In what could be the portents of a zombie apocalypse, iPass, a leading provider of mobile connectivity, surveyed of more than 1,700 people in the US and Europe found that 58% said Wi-Fi was more more important to them than than sex – with 7% actually feeling the need to check their cell phones *during* sex – while 72% had checked their phones while on the toilet!
25% of respondents said they’d choose Wi-Fi over a bath or shower and 19% said they’d choose Wi-Fi over human contact.
Common Sense Media just released a follow-up of their 2012 study of more than 1,000 kids aged 13 to 17 and found that in 2018, 32% prefer face-to-face communications with their friends, down from 49% in 2012. These numbers may scale with teen ownership of mobile phones, up from 41% in 2012 to 89% today. In 2012, 34% of teens said they used social media multiple times per day and now 70% do.
Common Sense Media is actually a pro-technology, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping parents and children “harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all kids’ lives.”
The findings indicate just how fast things are changing. As Vicky Rideout, an author of Common Sense study said, ‘In another six years from now, these statistics may seem quaint.’
One wonders what the results of such studies would reveal if the groups conducting them were anti-technology?
