Put that phone down! Photo credit: Robert Anthony Provost
The UK is a nation “addicted” to smartphones, according to a new report out Thursday from media competition regulator Ofcom. More than a quarter of all adults and almost half of all British teenagers own smartphones, such as an iPhone or a Blackberry, according to the report – and they’re using them.
Said Ofcom, “Users make significantly more calls and send more texts than regular mobile users (81 per cent of smartphone users make calls every day compared with 53 per cent of ‘regular’ users). Teenagers especially are ditching more traditional activities in favour of their smartphone, with 23 per cent claiming to watch less TV and 15 per cent admitting they read fewer books. And when asked about the use of these devices, 37 per cent of adults and 60 per cent of teens admit they are ‘highly addicted’.”
Looks like they don’t call it the Crackberry for nothing.
Read the report here.
- What does it mean? Ofcom claimed that the rapid growth in smartphone usage – 59 percent of the respondents said they’d bought their phone in the last year – is impacting “the way many of us, particularly teenagers, act in social situations.” People are using their phones while interacting with other people, during mealtimes, even in bed. That also means, the report claimed, that Britons’ “work/life” balance is shifting, with an increasing blurring of the lines between social hour and work time. While users admit to taking personal calls during work, many also say they take work calls during holidays and off-time.
- We even use them on the toilet. Smartphones, it appears, are the new bathroom reading material – The Inquirer sidestepped the typical “people are addicted to smartphones” headline and went straight for the real news: These smartphone addicts are even using their phones in the toilet.
“Our desire to consume media has never been greater,” says Dan Sabbagh.
- “We are all media junkies now.” Not only are we using smartphone technology more and more, but we’re also still using traditional media, such as television, at increasing rates, noted Dan Sabbagh, writing at The Guardian. “This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. The rising popularity of digital technology was, so the theory went, intended to displace traditional media.” But despite the fact that newspapers are tanking left and right, audiences are flocking to news sites online like never before. “Overall our desire to consume media has never been greater.”
- The first step to combating an addiction… Is, of course, admitting that you have one. But then what? Susan Davis, features writer at self-diagnosing site WebMD, noted in an article from 2010 that smartphones and computer technology can be actually addictive, and not just in a cute headline way. “Computer technologies can be addictive because they’re ‘psychoactive’; they alter mood and often trigger enjoyable feelings,” she explained. “Email, in particular, gives us satisfaction due to what psychologists call ‘variable ratio reinforcement.’ That is, we never know when we’ll get a satisfying email, so we keep checking, over and over again.” That can and in some cases, is, leading to a deleterious affect on the addict’s life. So how to break the pattern? Davis suggested making rules for yourself, including not using smartphones in certain situations and “being strong” when you hear that siren-call beep or vibrate indicating some incoming news.
