By Rakhee Naik. People are scrolling more, comparing more and craving real-world connection. New research explores why brands need to look beyond the feed to build lasting relationships.
Social media is no longer just a way to stay in touch. Today, people use it to discover new experiences, express themselves and connect with the world around them, yet many feel increasingly disconnected from it at the same time.
Consumer insights agency KLA analysed YouGov Profiles data tracking internet-connected adults aged 18 and older between 2021 and 2026 to understand how attitudes towards social media have changed. South Africans are feeling better about their lives — 79% say things are going well, up from 70% five years ago — but feelings of alienation from modern life have risen in the same period, from 42% to 52%. As social media becomes more central to daily life, personal contentment and alienation are both climbing, and that pull in opposite directions is showing up in how people engage online and what they choose to share.
More time, more worry
Social media’s grip has tightened as 71% of South Africans say they spend more time on platforms now than a year ago, up from 67% in 2021. At the same time, 69% admit to scrolling aimlessly, a few percentage points higher than five years ago. The behaviour has become more habitual, but people are not entirely comfortable with it.
Worry about screen time has risen from 65% to 72%, and 41% now describe themselves as heavy social media users on a typical day. Social platforms have also become a newsroom – 59% turn to them as a moderate-to-heavy news source.
One thing has barely changed: 74% of South Africans say they care about how they present themselves on social media, exactly the same as in 2021. The impulse to curate was already near its ceiling five years ago. What has changed is everything around it — the hours, the unease, and the emotional toll of being online.
The comparison economy
That emotional toll has a name, and it’s envy: 44% of South Africans now say they envy the lifestyles of their friends, up from 35% in 2021. The platforms that promise connection are, for many, also a steady feed of other people’s highlight reels. The pressure does not stop at friends. Influence has become a commercial force: 45% say they compare themselves to fitness influencers, and that influence is also changing what people buy.
The proportion of those who agree that celebrity endorsements affect what they buy has jumped 14 percentage points in five years, from 37% to 51%, while 48% say they trust products recommended by celebrities or influencers.
For marketers, that is a clear signal. Influencer and celebrity-led pull on purchasing has strengthened over five years. But it comes packaged with the same fatigue and comparison that make people uneasy about social media in the first place, which is where the real opportunity lies.
Meet the Content Seekers
One group makes the dynamic especially vivid: 57% say they actively seek out experiences that will make for great social media content. Among 25 to 44 year-olds, that climbs past 60%, with little difference between men and women. These content seekers are worth understanding, because they behave less like passive scrollers and more like cultural front-runners.
They are the first in their circles to know about new lifestyle and design trends. Profiling them against the average South African adult turns up a consistent set of skews: they look for new ideas and inspiration, they will travel long distances for a new attraction, and they live by a work-hard-play-hard creed with enjoyment near the top of their priorities.
They are comfortable taking risks and seizing opportunities, they express themselves through creative hobbies, and they are noticeably more receptive to brands that are innovative, inclusive and environmentally minded. They are more likely to trust influencer recommendations and are more interested in building long-term relationships with brands. Which brings us back to the contradiction we started with. The most digitally intensive, most influencer-receptive consumers in the country are also the ones asking, loudly, for something screens cannot give them.
The human premium
Across the board, 75% of South Africans say brands must connect with customers in real life to be successful, with this rising to 85% for those who are actively seeking out great social media content. Even inside an influencer culture, even among heavy users who scroll without thinking, the appetite for genuine human contact has not faded. If anything, the rising sense of alienation has sharpened it.
This is the strategic heart of the data. Social media is unmatched for reach and engagement, and no brand can afford to ignore it. But the human component is doing more work than ever, not less. In a feed full of curation and comparison, a real moment of connection cuts through precisely because it is rare. The brands that treat digital and human touchpoints as a single, integrated and connected experience, rather than choosing one over the other, will be the ones consumers stay with and return to.
What this means for brands
South Africans are happier, more connected and more influenced than they were five years ago, and more anxious, envious, and alienated. Holding those truths together is the job. Lean into social and influencer channels for their genuine commercial pull, but resist the temptation to let them stand alone. Build the real-world moments, the human interactions and the long-term relationships that a population craving connection is openly asking for. In 2026, the warmest thing a brand can offer is not another post – it’s the feeling of being met as a person.
Methodology
YouGov Profiles: Segmentation and media planning tool providing a comprehensive view of consumers’ worlds, with data collected daily.
Population: South African adults with access to the internet, aged 18+ and those filtered by agreeing with “I seek experiences that will make for great content on my social media”.
Datasets: Profiles+ South Africa, 2026-05-24 and 2021-05-23.
Sample sizes: 2026 National Population n~15,567; 2026 Filtered by those agreeing to seeking experiences for great content n~ 610; 2021 National Population n~5,591
Rakhee Naik is a managing consultant: Insights at KLA.
