Thursday, March 28, 2024

20% of all British Columbians are addicted to their smartphone (STUDY)

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Around one-in-five British Columbians have admitted that they are addicted to their smartphones.

A recent study released by Insights West surveyed a sample of 816 BC residents and found that 21% of them are “self-admitted smartphone addicts”.

About 4% of these addicts believe that their phone habits are unhealthy, while the remaining 17% describe them as “manageable”.

(Insights West)

Perhaps not surprisingly, the number of people who admit they’re addicted to smartphones increases when the age group is younger. Among 18-34 year olds, 33% probably couldn’t live without their handheld devices.

“Smartphone usage and influence has increased drastically since the last measurement we took in 2014, and the impact on our daily lives has been dramatic in every shape and form—from how we consume media, and how we entertain ourselves, to how we shop and conduct our financial transactions,” says Steve Mossop, President of Insights West.

“Unfortunately, there is a downside as well—self-reported addiction levels have increased, and the side effect of upheaval in the technology and marketing world has been dramatic.”

The average amount of time spent perusing through smartphones has also increased in British Columbia, according to the report.

Users now spend about 16.5 hours per week on their smartphones – that’s more time than people spend watching TV (11.2 hours) or on their laptops (10.7 hours).

(Insights West)

The survey also asked people what they used their smartphones for – this elicited a wide variety of responses.

Besides just texting and talking, British Columbians reported increasingly using their phones for taking pictures, getting directions, reading the news, banking, watching movies, using fitness-based trackers, and more.

(Insights West)

Click here to access the full findings of the study.

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Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

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