YouGov Profiles reveals which Brits are glued to their devices, and couldn’t get through a day without them
Life before smartphones seems like a distant memory, and it’s hard to avoid having one these days. But who are the Brits who say they cannot go a single day without theirs?
YouGov Profiles reveals that three in ten (31%) adults tend to agree that they couldn’t get through a day without using their phone. A similar number (29%) of Brits tend to disagree, and 16% say the definitely disagree - that they definitely go an entire day without using their phone.
That leaves one in eight Brits (12%) who are adamant that they could not get through the day without mobile communication. YouGov Profiles demographic data reveals that it’s actually middle-aged Brits who are more likely to agree to fall into this group than their younger peers.
Of the age groups, a plurality (the largest group, but one that is not a majority) are aged between 25 and 39 (39%) with only 19% being aged 18 to 25. These phone addicts are also more likely to be female (59%) than male (41%).
We can also see that the majority (58%) of the 16% who disagreed with the statement (the ones who tell us that they could go without phones) are aged over 55. Only 16% of phone addicts are in the same age bracket.
How do the attitudes of these groups differ when it comes to other technologies? YouGov Profiles shows that those Brits on opposite sides of the statement have widely differing opinions on the internet, social media, and phones.
Some 90% of Brits who said they couldn’t go without mobile communication say that the internet is their main source of information, compared to 53% of the adults who those who could.
The biggest difference between the two groups however is that 90% of adults who couldn’t go a day without mobile communication also say they couldn’t cope without internet access, compared to just 28% of adults who disagreed with the original statement. Brits who can’t go through a day without mobile communication are also more likely to find themselves aimlessly scrolling social media (77%) compared to those who can (31%).
