Bhubaneswar: A new global study across 50 countries has confirmed what many of us have quietly sensed: social media activity is declining, and it is the young—once the driving force behind the digital revolution—who are walking away first. Out of a massive sample of 250 million users, researchers found a 10% drop in active participation. In a world where everything seems to be moving online, the people who built the culture of posting, sharing, and storytelling are now choosing silence.
This phenomenon has a name: “Posting Zero.” It captures the growing trend of users who still scroll endlessly but no longer post anything themselves. It is not that young people dislike the internet. They’re simply exhausted by what it has become.
There are three powerful reasons behind this retreat, and each tells a larger story about the state of the digital world.
First, the internet is becoming too polished for real people.
Social media—once messy, spontaneous, and imperfect—has turned into a stage of hyper-edited and AI-curated perfection. Algorithms smooth out personalities, aesthetic filters strip away authenticity, and AI-generated posts blend seamlessly into our feeds. This gradual erosion of humanity has been termed “Enshittification,” a condition where platforms become so optimized for engagement and profit that they stop feeling human altogether. Real voices get drowned out by curated gloss.
Second, participation is collapsing even though usage remains high.
Millions are still online, but most have stopped contributing. They scroll without speaking, observe without sharing, and consume without connecting. The psychological weight of constant visibility—being judged, compared, and rated—has become too heavy for many. Silence feels safer than exposure.
Third, the internet increasingly feels automated, not alive.
The so-called “Dead Internet Theory” suggests that a growing portion of online activity is generated not by humans but by bots, scripts, and AI models. Fake accounts pump out fake engagement, creating fake popularity. Half the noise we hear isn’t coming from people at all. In such an environment, ordinary users feel like they’re shouting into a void populated by machines.
The tragedy is that these platforms were built for one thing: to connect people.
And now, in their attempt to become smarter, faster, and more profitable, they risk losing the very users they depend on.
We are watching a quiet rebellion—one not fought with outrage but with absence. Young people are voting with their silence, choosing genuineness over performance, and perhaps searching for spaces where they can be human again.
The question is: Can the internet return to its raw, imperfect, people-driven roots?
A place where stories were genuine, connections were real, and participation felt natural rather than forced?
If the digital world is to survive with its soul intact, it must remember the simplest truth: the internet is at its best when it belongs to the people who use it, not to the systems that manipulate it.
-OdishaAge
