Skip to main content

Americans use their smartphones for everything from job searches to avoiding contact with others

india 2nd largest smartphone market 2017 cancer
Smartphones are now the computer of choice for many people around the globe. And while it’s typically thought that only people in developing countries are relying exclusively on their smartphones for the Internet, a new study from the Pew Research Center indicates that Americans are also gravitating more and more to mobile devices to access the Web.

Smartphone dependent

Of the 64 percent of Americans who own a smartphone, 10 percent do not have broadband at home, which means that their smartphone is their sole means for accessing the Internet. An additional 15 percent of smartphone owners say they have a limited amount of alternative ways to go online, and so they rely on their smartphones as well. The study found that one in five American adults either do not have access to broadband or have limited access to the Internet outside of their data plan on their phone.

A range of factors, including income, ethnicity, and age, were relevant to this phenomenon:

  • Money talks: Pew discovered that 13 percent of Americans with an annual household income of less than $30,000 a year  were completely dependent on their smartphones for Internet access. In contrast, just 1 percent of Americans who earn $75,000 and up a year are dependent solely on their smartphone for Internet access.
  • Age is key: Some 15 percent of Americans between 18 and 29 are heavily dependent on their smartphones for Web access.
  • Ethnicity plays a role: Around 12 percent of African Americans and 13 percent of Latinos are smartphone-dependent, but only 4 percent of whites rely only on their smartphones for Internet access.

To make matters worse for smartphone-reliant Internet users, Pew found that a whopping 48 percent of such smartphone-dependent Americans have had to cancel their phone plans for a while because the they could not afford the monthly fees for data and service. In addition, 30 percent of smartphone-dependent users routinely exceed their data cap and 51 percent say it happens often.

Smartphone need

The study turned up some interesting trends among the types of activities smartphone users engage in while on the Web. More than half have looked up a health condition or done online banking on their phones. Slightly less than half have looked up real estate listings, job information, and government services. Some even use their phones to apply for jobs and take classes.

When it comes to news, it turns out that smartphone users love to be up to date on info, with nearly 70 percent following breaking news on their smartphones and sharing thoughts on news stories with friends. Turn-by-turn navigation instructions are similarly popular among smartphone users, though public transit directions are used by just 25 percent of Americans. At this point, almost half of Americans say they couldn’t live without their phones.

smartphone use

One of the funnier parts of the study details how differently younger smartphone owners use their phones from how older Americans do. Some 91 percent of smartphone users between 18 and 29 used social networks on their phone at least once during the study. In contrast, only 55 percent of those 50 and older used social networks.

Perhaps the most revealing divide between the generations involved phone usage designed to avoid other people or to stave off boredom. Around 93 percent of 18-29 year old smartphone users said they used their phones when bored at least once during the week. Additionally, nearly half of smartphone owners in that age group used their phone to avoid other people. Youngsters did so three times more often than older Americans.

The study holds many more cool nuggets of info, so check out the full thing on the Pew Research Center site.

Editors' Recommendations

Malarie Gokey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…
LIVE Singapore! uses big data from smartphones to improve quality of life
what do smartphone signal bars mean

As "smart" as smartphones may be, it's not often that they're credited with doing good for their users. More commonly, it's reports of the potential brain cancer you may be contracting from overuse, or lack of sleep that may result from staring at the tiny screens that generate attention. But in Singapore, smartphones and the growing amount of data that can be collected from these devices are legitimately being used to do good in a program called LIVE Singapore!.

The project, a collaboration between the city of Singapore and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "provides people with access to a range of useful real-time information about their city by developing an open platform for the collection, elaboration and distribution of real-time data that reflect urban activity."

Read more
Woman barred from using smartphone for two years after fatal accident
distracted-driving-cell-phone

Handed down as part of an unconventional sentence from Judge Stewart McDonald of St Johns, Michigan, 23-year-old Mitzi Nelson will not be allowed to own or operate a cell phone for a period of two years while she's serving probation for crashing into and killing a cyclist during September 2014. The cyclist, 35-year-old Jill Byelich, was riding on the right side of the road while wearing a helmet and reflective vest, but was struck by Nelson while she was distracted by her mobile device.

In addition to the two years of probation, Nelson will have to serve a minimum of 90 days in jail as well as perform 150 hours of community service. Nelson will also have to speak publicly at twenty driver's education classes about the dangers of distracted driving. Nelson received this sentence after pleading no contest to the misdemeanor charge. Beyond the core details of the sentence, Nelson will also pay $1,500 in fines and fees as well as $15,600 in restitution costs. The state of Michigan has also suspended Nelson's license for an entire year.

Read more
Pew: 22% of Americans have changed email, social media, cell phone use post-Snowden
Smartphone privacy Snowden NSA

If you’ve changed the way you use personal technology, digital communication channels and online resources to protect your privacy after former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents detailing the U.S. government’s surveillance programs, you’re not alone. A new survey conducted by Pew Research Center finds that more than 1 in 3 U.S. adults who have heard about the surveillance programs have taken at least one step to hide or guard their information from their government.

The report, titled “Americans’ Privacy Strategies Post-Snowden,” summarizes responses from American adults about their thoughts and responses to the revelations about the government’s information collection activities. Overall, 87 percent of respondents said they had heard something about the surveillance programs – 31 percent said they heard a lot about them and 56 percent said they heard a little about them.

Read more