If you are, then the latest Ofcom Communications and Market report tells us that you’re not alone! Yes 59 per cent of us now consider ourselves “hooked” to our mobile device.
With faster internet now more widely available than ever before we can spend more time doing what we love – be it catching up on the latest on demand TV or chatting with friends via instant messaging, both of which have seen a surge in popularity this year.
I’m certainly one of those “average” adult users in the UK who now spends one day per week (25 hours) online – much to my wife’s frustration, I might add!
But, with the continuing surge in online popularity, this past year has also seen a rise in the “digital detox”. Ofcom revealed that “15 million of us have undertaken a “digital detox” in a bid to strike a healthier balance between technology and life beyond the screen. The report found that 34 per cent of adult internet users have sought a period of time offline and, of those down timers, 25 per cent spent up to a day offline and 20 per cent took a week off.
Whilst many claimed this time to be positive (33 per cent said they felt more productive, 27 per cent found it to be liberating and 25 per cent enjoyed life more) I would certainly not be one of them, would you?
You can take away the alcohol, you could even take away the TV (with a struggle) but you cannot take away my phone! I wonder how many people would say the same?
