Americans and Mobile Computing: Key Trends in Consumer Research
Americans and Their Cell Phones
by Aaron Smith for the Pew Internet and American Life Project
Mobile phones have become a near-ubiquitous tool for information seeking and communicating—83% of American adults own some kind of cell phone.
- Cell phones can help stave off boredom – 42% of cell owners used their phone for entertainment when they were bored.
- Despite their advantages, some cell phone owners just need an occasional break – 29% of cell owners turned their phone off for a period of time just to get a break from using it.
- With advantages comes frustration – 20% of cell owners experienced frustration because their phone was taking too long to download something; 16% had difficulty reading something on their phone because the screen was too small; and 10% had difficulty entering a lot of text on their phone.
- Cell phones can help prevent unwanted personal interactions – 13% of cell owners pretended to be using their phone in order to avoid interacting with the people around them.
Text messaging and picture taking continue to top the list of ways that Americans use their mobile phones—three quarters of all cell owners (73%) use their phones for each of these purposes. Other relatively common activities include sending photos or videos to others (54% of cell owners do this) as well as accessing the internet (44%).
