Britain has developed a culture of “digital addiction” over the past decade, with most people needing to be constantly connected to the internet, according to the national telecommunications agency in its annual report.
On average, Brits check their smartphones every 12 minutes, and 40 percent of adults check their phones within the first five minutes after waking up, Ofcom reports.
Sixty-five percent of individuals under 35 reach for their phones as soon as they open their eyes in the morning, and 60 percent of them use their phones five minutes before going to bed, according to the report titled A Decade of Digital Dependency.
The number of smartphone owners in Britain increased from 17 percent in 2008 to 78 percent in 2018, and to 95 percent among the population aged 16 to 24, it states.
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Ofcom conducts such surveys every year, and in the latest report, it concludes that the time spent on phone calls has decreased for the first time as people increasingly use services like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and others that are internet-based.
“In the last decade, people’s lives have transformed due to the rise in smartphone usage, better internet access, and new services,” said Ian Macrae from Ofcom.
“We can work on the go more than ever before,” he said, explaining that this applies to everyone, whether we are doing regular work flexibly, shopping online, or accessing various other services.
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“But,” Macrae warned, “while people value their smartphones as constant companions, some feel overwhelmed by constant internet access, and others are frustrated when they are not connected to the network.”
