According to an official investigation by the Chinese Communist Party, the daily average time spent online by Chinese residents in 2024 reached 5 hours and 37 minutes, almost double that of 2018. The daily online time for individuals aged 18 to 59 is as high as 7 hours and 13 minutes, second only to sleep time. At the same time, nearly 90% of surveyed elderly people watch short videos every day, and their time and energy are also being harvested by platform operators’ algorithms.
The online news outlet “The Paper” recently interviewed a retired couple living in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province. The wife, Chen Xiuli, said she spends around five to six hours on her phone every day; while her husband, Li Ming, claimed to only spend two to three hours on his phone per day. However, Chen Xiuli immediately added that her husband is almost inseparable from his phone at home, watching short videos and dramas before and after meals, saying “He watches whatever the platform recommends.”
Li Ming argued that he rarely watches short videos or dramas, preferring to watch sports news. However, he admitted that time flies by when using the phone, saying “One hour leads to another.”
How many elderly people are “tied” to the internet every day? Data from the third-party research firm QuestMobile shows that there are 351 million active mobile internet users aged over 50 in China, with an average daily phone usage exceeding 4 hours.
What are these elderly people doing online? A study conducted by Shenzhen University in 2026 showed that out of 201 surveyed elderly people, nearly 90% watch short videos almost every day, with nearly half watching for over two hours daily.
62-year-old Wu Zheng showed the back-end data of his phone to “The Paper” journalist, revealing a daily phone usage time of 8 hours and 27 minutes, with the highest being 10 hours and 39 minutes in a day. The most frequently used app was for short dramas. Wu Zheng mentioned that sometimes, even after watching dramas, he remains unsatisfied past 11 p.m., only putting down his phone when his eyes feel uncomfortable to sleep.
Why are short dramas so appealing for the elderly to continue watching? Reports indicate that platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou Shorts match users’ preferences through personalized recommendations. Unlike TV programs competing for viewers in the past, platforms today can tailor content based on individual preferences to extend engagement time.
Professor Hu Yong from the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University pointed out that platform algorithms and content producers are competing for viewers’ time, emotions, and mental energy. Sensational, pleasurable, and anger-inducing emotions easily become favored content by algorithms.
He mentioned that continued attention consumption not only depletes personal mental energy but may also lead to fatigue and anxiety. Users gradually lose their ability to focus and think while continuously receiving stimuli.