News Alert Fatigue: Why Users Are Turning Off Notifications
Many smartphone users are becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the constant stream of notifications vying for their attention, and a recent study highlights a significant trend: people are actively opting out of news alerts.
According to a global analysis by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, a large majority of smartphone owners simply aren’t receiving news notifications. The survey found that a striking 79% of respondents do not get any news alerts in a typical week.
Even more telling, within that group who aren’t receiving alerts, a substantial 43% reported that they have intentionally disabled these notifications on their devices.
The Reasons Behind the Opt-Out Trend
Why are so many users turning off the news tap? The study points to two primary motivations for actively disabling alerts:
Information Overload: Users feel they receive “too many” notifications throughout the day.
Lack of Relevance: The alerts they do receive are perceived as “not useful” or lacking value.
This sentiment is further amplified by the sheer volume of all types of mobile notifications users receive daily – spanning news, sports scores, calendar reminders, messaging apps, and social media interactions.
Publishers Grapple with the Notification Challenge
Media organizations are keenly aware of this growing fatigue. Nic Newman, the lead researcher for the report, notes that publishers are “extremely conscious of the tightrope they are walking” when sending alerts. Most have implemented strict limits on the number of daily notifications and established clear criteria for alert types and timing to avoid alienating their audience.
Despite the opt-out trend, the prevalence of news alerts has significantly increased over the past decade in many regions. For example, in the United States, the proportion of people receiving weekly news notifications jumped from just 6% in 2014 to 23% today. The United Kingdom saw a similar rise, from 3% to 18% over the same period.
While alerts can serve as a quick way to stay informed and broaden perspectives beyond breaking headlines, their value diminishes rapidly when they employ “oversensationalized headlines” (often seen as clickbait) or when publishers send an excessive number of notifications that users don’t find relevant. The challenge for news providers remains finding the right balance to inform without overwhelming.
