Forget rampant obesity ; smartphone addiction is confirmed as America’s latest epidemic, according to a new study on the habits and behaviors of mobile users.
“Some might say that Americans are fixated and emotionally connected to our mobile devices. And they might be right,” the June 2012 Mobile Mindset Study contends. According to the study that extrapolates its results to the entire country, about 60% of us (particularly those in the 18-34 cohort) can’t go for more than one hour without checking our phones for messages, getting online, or whatnot. Over half of those surveyed checked their phone while in bed, and two out of five admit to checking their phone on the toilet.
Smartphone users behaving badly seems to have become the norm, with good manners and/or proper etiquette seemingly sacrificed in the digital age. For example, some 30% admitted they check their cell phones during meals with family or friends, one-fourth checked their phones will driving (which is highly dangerous based on distracted-driving accident statistics), and 10% even checked their phones during church or other religious services.
Oh, in case you’re wondering, survey data also showed that 26% of Americans used their smartphones to send/receive explicit photos and 18% engaged in sexting .
Given this data, it should be no surprise that 73% would go into absolute panic if thy lost their phone.
The study was published by Lookout, a smartphone security company. Data was gathered online by Harris Interactive from about 2,000 adults.
Commenting on the findings, Alicia diVittorio, mobile safety advocate at Lookout, told BusinessNewsDaily that…
Our phones are our lifeline, from photos with social networks to shopping and managing bank accounts. The findings establish that our attachment to smartphones is driving a new mobile mindset. Our behaviors, emotions and social interactions are impacted by smartphones to the extent that they now play an important role in our value systems.
Are you addicted to your smartphone, even to the extent–as the study suggests–of investing more time into your mobile device than in your person-to-person relationships?
