Well now I’m fairly sure that us Brits aren’t the only people in this world that have somewhat of an addiction to their chosen smartphone, whether you have an iPhone, BlackBerry, Android or other, most tend to use their device on a daily basis, however apparently increased smartphone usage is having an effect on UK users social behaviour.
According to an article over on Mobile News CWP, a new “Communications Market Report” from UK regulator Ofcom apparently shows that 60 percent of teens and 37 percent of Adults in the United Kingdom are “highly addicted” to their device.
The report says that 47 percent of UK teens and 27 percent of UK adults now own a smartphone with 59 percent having purchased their smartphone in the past year.
A staggering 81 percent of users leave their handset switch on at all times, (something I personally don’t do as I turn mine off at night because the constant notifications on my Android handset wakes me up,) whilst 4 in 10 teens and adult admit to using their device once it has woken them up.
Apparently teenagers also ditch traditional activities in favour of their mobile phone, with 15 percent reading less and 23 percent watching less TV while 81 percent make a call from their smartphone everyday.
When it comes to smartphone use whilst socialising with others, two thirds of teens and about half of adults admit to using their device, while 34 percent of teens and 23 percent of adults use their handset during mealtime.
When it comes to using a smartphone whilst in the toilet or bathroom, 47 percent of teens and 22 percent of adults admit to doing so.
Apparently according to the Ofcom report the line between social and work time is becoming “increasingly blurred” with smartphone users with 70 percent of users admitting to making a work related call when on vacation, and 24 percent of those do so regularly.
And when it comes to downloading mobile applications, the report found that 47 percent of adults have downloaded apps while 38 percent of teens are more likely to pay for a mobile app.
Yes well, let’s be honest here, I personally don’t see anything in this report that actually means UK smartphone users are more or less addicted to their handset than anyone else in any other country, and besides, what’s the point of having a smartphone if you aren’t going to take advantage of it as much as possible as they cost enough.
So how do our readers stack up against these figures, do you overuse your smartphone, do you admit to being amongst those in the report? If so we’d like to know so feel free to drop us a line to our comments area below.