In the past two decades, leisure activities have undergone a massive transformation. This is largely due to technological advancements that have reshaped how we live our lives and affected pretty much every part of our existence, including entertainment.
The birth of the Internet was the main driver of public interest in technology, but the emergence of the iPhone in 2007, which ushered in the smartphone era, was another major impetus for people to shift from passively consuming traditional media to attaining more immersive, interactive experiences whenever they feel like it.
Some recent statistics indicate that the current worldwide daily screen time average sits at around six hours and 40 minutes, with Americans spending seven hours per day on their phones and South Africans holding the global lead with nearly nine hours and 38 minutes. As a result, hobbies such as outdoor sports, reading, and watching standard TV have somewhat gone to the wayside in favour of ones rooted in the digital realm.
As augmented and virtual reality tech gain a bigger foothold around the world, this divide will probably grow even wider as people appreciate access to the technology from the comfort of their homes. Until these technologies take over completely, here are the five most popular digital hobbies right now.
Streaming Media
When people say streaming services, they are primarily referring to video-on-demand platforms such as Netflix, Paramount Plus, and Amazon Prime that feature high-grade serialized shows and movies. Tubi, which operates on an ad-based model, also fits this definition. However, the truth is that YouTube is also a streaming service, and the same holds true for Spotify, Twitch, Kick, and many others.
These days, there is a streaming service for pretty much every mainstream or semi-mainstream niche. For example, there is one dedicated to horror movies called Shudder, available to U.S. residents only, and there is Pluto TV, which is a gateway to all kinds of content, including classic TV and unexplained phenomena.
Data from ContentDetector indicates that there were 3.7 billion global over-the-top users for video alone in 2024, and this figure is expected to grow to 4.05 billion in 2026. The Verge suggests that Netflix users, on average, spend around two hours per day using the service, with household viewership going up year-on-year.
Online Gaming
Online gaming includes gaming of the casino variety, such as playing slots, bingo, online roulette, and other games of chance. Estimated worldwide Internet gambling revenues should hit close to $450 billion in 2025, with this sector poised to swell at a rate of 3.21% per year. According to experts, the 24/7 availability of gambling games and the appearance of new genres like live presenter options are driving the growth of this landscape. The integration of digital payment methods, especially cryptocurrencies, to facilitate swift payouts has also played a role.
Meanwhile, standard video gaming pulled in $455 billion in global revenues in 2024, with the mobile gaming segment showing remarkable growth. Last year, it generated $98.7 billion in revenues, and market research firms put the number of active gamers at 3.32 billion. Asia is home to almost half of them, with the continent boasting 1.5 billion.
Social Media Engagement
Scrolling social media is another popular digital pastime. The history of these platforms is fascinating, and it goes back longer than most people would expect. For many, the birth of social media was the appearance of MySpace. Yet platforms like ARPANET, which was a 1969 precursor to the Internet, can possibly qualify as a social media platform, as it was a medium for electronic communication. Nevertheless, the bulletin board systems of the late 1970s and early 1980s better fit modern definitions.
Much of the mainstream American public was introduced to these platforms in the mid-to-late 1990s with the appearance of sites like Classmates.com and SixDegrees.com. MySpace did not pop up until 2003, a year after Friendster, and Facebook showed up on the scene in 2004 as a college-only network before blowing up globally a few years later.
Now, TikTok and Instagram are where young people chiefly get their information from and communicate, with new platforms showing up every year. Many of them quickly die off, but some manage to stick around.
In July 2025, 5.41 billion people were social media users, which equates to almost 66% of our planet’s population. Half of U.S. adults use Instagram, with Facebook still holding firm as the most popular social media platform with three billion active monthly users.
Immersive Digital Reading
The popularity of immersive digital reading may be surprising to some people, but it makes more sense when you consider the fact that podcasts and audiobooks fall under this category as well. Podcasts are typically classified under streaming media, especially since they are often streamed via platforms like Spotify. There is overlap with other categories, but podcasts began as an extension of the narrative audio ecosystem as audio files designed for on-demand listening. Therefore, they fit into this mold.
PodcastStatistics.com claims that there are currently more than 584 million podcast listeners, audiobooks generated $2.2 billion in sales in 2024, and e-book sales have reached a billion.
Online Learning and Creative Tools
Leading market research company IMARC Group reports that the e-learning market for 2024 was valued at $342 billion and is on track to expand to $682 billion in the next eight years. North America is the most dominant market, holding a 35% share of the global market.
The global creative software market, on the other hand, was valued at $9.93 billion in 2023, according to Grand View Research. Digital tools for the creation, editing, and management of multimedia content fall under creative software. Within this domain, key drivers include audio and video transcoding apps and others meant for digital media transformation. These are necessary for those looking to build a career as an online content creator.
These digital hobbies reflect humanity’s shift from passive entertainment to the more interactive experiences that currently dominate our leisure time.
Lead Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay