When it comes to love life dealbreakers, the North East is revealed to be more concerned about work addictions than any other UK region.
From endless social media scrolling to sexy content at the touch of a button, the digital world can captivate us like never before. But these online distractions can also wreak havoc on our relationships.
RANT Casino surveyed 3000 people in order to determine which digital addictions were the biggest deal breakers in relationships.
Highlights:
- Online porn ranked first, with 32.88% people across the North East giving it as the top addiction they’d consider breaking up with their partner over.
- 8.14% of people in the North East would consider work addiction as their top dealbreaker, higher than any other region in the UK.
- Social media does not seem to be a concern for most people. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube addictions are not a concern for over 9 in 10 people.
The top addictions that would cause people in the North East to consider breaking up with their partners
| Rank | Addiction | % of respondents who gave it as their top reason for a break up |
| 1 | Online porn | 32.88% |
| 2 | Only Fans | 22.37% |
| 3 | Online gambling | 14.92% |
| 4 | Online shopping | 11.19% |
| 5 | Work (laptop / computer) | 8.14% |
| 6 | Online Gaming | 3.73% |
| 7 | 3.05% | |
| 8 | TikTok | 2.71% |
| 9 | YouTube | 1.02% |
Online porn – nearly 1 in 3 would consider ending the relationship
First in the ranking is an addiction to online porn, with nearly 1 in 3 people giving it as the number one online addiction they would consider breaking up with their partner over – and not just in the North East. Online porn was the number one concern given across every region and age range for both men and women.
OnlyFans – 1 in 5 would consider it as a deal breaker
The second most common answer was an addiction to OnlyFans. In the North East, 22.37% of people would consider leaving their partner over an OnlyFans obsession (higher than the 18.30% UK average).
Given that this falls in a similar vein to online porn, it is clear that addiction to this kind of content is a major concern. Even 19% of over 61s across the UK gave OnlyFans as their number one deal breaker from the list of online addictions.
Work addiction – North East more concerned than any other UK region
Whilst online shopping and gambling took the next spots, fifth in the rankings for the North East was an addiction to work, with over 1 in 12 giving it as their top digital dealbreaker. This is over double the average across the rest of the UK, and significantly higher than regions such as Yorkshire and the Humber, where not a single person surveyed gave work addiction as their top dealbreaker.
TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube – not a concern for 9 in 10 people
Instagram was also given as the top reason by just 3.05% of people, followed by TikTok at 2.71%, and finally YouTube at 1.02%. These three incredibly low results suggest that, despite the perpetual argument that social media can be toxic or addictive, it doesn’t appear to be a concern in relationships for anywhere near as many people as other online addictions.
Key findings across regions, age ranges, genders
- In Yorkshire, a shocking 40.69% of people gave online porn as their top deal breaker.
- This was closely followed by 39.64% in London and 38.89% in the South East giving online porn as their top reason.
- In comparison, this was just 23.51% in the East of England.
- Online shopping was given as the top reason by just 8% of 18-25s compared to 12% of over 61s.
- 41- 60s are the least concerned when it comes to online porn and OnlyFans addictions, but considered online gaming and work addictions more of a dealbreaker than any other age group.
- Women were more likely than men to name addiction to online gambling, online porn, and work as their number one deal breaker.
- Men more commonly gave answers of online gaming, TikTok, and OnlyFans as their top reasons.
Methodology:
- RANT Casino sought to find out the online addictions that were considered most harmful to relationships.
- A targeted UK survey was carried out with more than 3,000 respondents aged between 18-61+.
- The final survey results were collected on the 16th December 2022.
- The survey questions were determined using information on the most common online addictions using sources such as Addictions UK and UK Rehab.
- Find the full survey data here.