Young Internet Users Addicted to Their Devices

By and large, internet users can’t get enough of their digital devices. According to July 2016 research, more than half of internet users are addicted to them—and it’s most common among younger users.

In fact, reports eMarkter, the survey from CivicScience uncovered that more than three-quarters of 13- to 24-year-olds said they were “addicted” to their digital devices, which included computers and smartphones. To compare, self-declared device addiction among this age group was more than double that of users ages 55 and older.

Furthermore, internet users ages 25 to 34 were also almost as likely to be addicted to their devices as 13- to 24-year-olds. Indeed, two-thirds said they were.

Younger users’ smartphone additions may not be surprising: Ownership of smartphones among teens has surged in recent years. eMarketer estimates that 84.0% of 12- to 17-year-olds will own and use a smartphone on a monthly basis this year.

And a February 2016 survey for Adestra by Flagship Research found that internet users between the ages of 14 to 34 are more likely to own smartphones and laptops than users ages 56 to 67.

Separate research from Coupofy, which looked at how frequently US millennials check their smartphones, discovered that 20% of respondents checked their smartphones at least 10 times per hour, and a quarter of them said they did so at least once every 15 minutes.