Americans Using Smartphones to Avoid Interacting With People: Pew Report

More than one-third of American adults own a smartphone of some kind, according to new survey data from the Pew Research Center s Internet & American Life Project. That’s in comparison to the 83 percent who own a cell phone.

In other words, if you ever needed proof that Americans are truly going mobile, it s here. Moreover, Americans have become increasingly dependent on their handsets as they navigate the slings and arrows of daily life: According to the survey, some 27 percent said they’d encountered a situation within the previous month in which they had trouble doing something because they did not have their phone at hand. Another 13 percent said they’d used their cell phone to avoid interacting with the people around them.

Most popular cell phone activities included texting and picture-taking (73 percent), followed by sending photos and video to others (54 percent) and accessing the Internet (44 percent). With smartphone users, those percentages were larger: Some 90 percent used their more powerful devices to snap photos or send texts, while 80 percent used it to cruise the Internet or send photos and video.

Smartphones, along with tablets, have increasingly become the center of people s Internet-connected lives. Research firm IHS recently predicted tablet shipments would reach 61.9 million units this year, versus 19.7 million in 2010, helping drive rising adoption of Internet-enabled devices.

“These new figures are the latest evidence that the Internet is not just for PCs anymore,” Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for consumer platforms at IHS, wrote in an Aug. 12 statement. “Increasingly, each Internet-enabled electronics device is vying to become the center of what is known as the digital living room, aggregating content throughout the home.”

To read the original eWeek article, click here: Americans Using Phones to Avoid Talking: Pew Report

CIO Insight Staff
CIO Insight Staff
CIO Insight offers thought leadership and best practices in the IT security and management industry while providing expert recommendations on software solutions for IT leaders. It is the trusted resource for security professionals who need network monitoring technology and solutions to maintain regulatory compliance for their teams and organizations.

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