Despite relentless headlines claiming that we’re all brainless phone-addicts, new survey results from EY show that people aged 25-34 are the age group most likely to go on a digital detox.
Nearly two-thirds of the millennial respondents saying that they actively seek time away from their smartphones and gadgets. That’s considerably higher that the average household, where only 49% of people say they partake in any sort of digital downtime.
Related: It’s over for the smartphone – we just don’t know it yet
Last year, only 43% of the same survey respondents had partaken in a self-imposed phone ban – according to EY, these numbers reflect a wider digital trend, which has seen more people grow frustrated and disenchanted with the digital world.
In brief, we’re falling out of love with smartphones and the internet to boot.
Rather than luxuriating in a good-old Instagram scroll, 37% of the respondents claimed that they only use the internet for functional purposes. And over half of respondents said they didn’t even bother with apps anymore – or only used a handful that they were already familiar with.
A lot of the other questions are focused on network providers, and it seems the British public is similarly grumpy about this issue. In particular, we think there’s too much choice and we’re not enamoured with the idea of 5G either.
Half of all the 2500 respondents said that there were too many broadband providers and packages available, and a measly 32% said they would consider taking up a 5G package.
Related: Phones are now so expensive that the second hand market is blowing up
To top it all off, we’re becoming distrustful of the online world thanks to data spillages. Less than half of us think our data is secure online – and 60% of 25-34-year-olds have completely given up when it comes to the issue, agreeing with a statement that says online data security is impossible.
Admittedly, a 2,500-strong survey is a small sample size – but when you pair this info with the decline in smartphone sales, it’s starting to look like our love affair with the mobile might be waning.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
