This is how addicted we are to our smartphones: One in three millennials have walked into something while looking at their phone
Ever walked headfirst into a lamp post because you were focusing less on your surroundings than on following an unfolding Twitter debate on your phone?
If you’re under 30 years old, chances are your answer is yes, according to a new study on millennials’ smartphone habits which reveals the (terrifying) full extent of our phone addiction: one in three 18 to 35-year-olds have at some point walked into something because they were looking down at their phone.
And that’s not the only worrying evidence that we’re obsessed with our phones. Almost half, or some 49 per cent, of those polled by Gocompare admit that they’re kept from fully enjoying experiences in real life, because they’re too busy capturing them on their smartphone.
Ben Wilson, home insurance expert at Gocompare, called the development “extremely worrying”:
I'm sure we can all agree that these devices are an essential part of modern life, but there is a time and place for them.
Amusingly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, we’re all terrible hypocrites: It drives us up the wall when other people use their phones around us, with 42 per cent getting annoyed by friends using their phones at dinner, and 32 per cent by watching a TV show beside someone who won’t put their phone down.
Despite this, about half of respondents also admitted that they message others even when doing things with friends.
Oh well. As long as you’re not among the one in 25 who replied that they’d at one point crashed their car while checking social media on your phone, things could always be worse.