Americans are more connected than ever--here's how much time people spend on their phones and how it's changed
Published in Slideshow World
Americans spend an average of four hours looking at their cellphones every day, checking them at least 144 times a day, a 2023 Reviews.org survey found.
In today's world, communication is wireless, connected, always on, instant, and high fidelity. The smartphone has become so much more capable than anyone imagined at its invention; it's now our bank teller, research assistant, video game device, health monitor, and then some. More than 4 in 5 Americans (85%) own a smartphone now, up from 35% in 2011, per Pew Research Center survey data.
Visible compared historical data from the Labor Department's American Time Use Survey to see how much time people spend communicating in their free time and how it's changed over the last two decades.
A landline phone used to be every American family and business' way of connecting with their homes and offices. In 2022, though, barely 1 in 4 Americans owned a landline telephone in their house. Businesses increasingly opt for voice calling over IP-calling software that uses broadband instead of phone lines for better quality calls and features. And consumers no longer communicate through voice calls alone, opting to publish thoughts, photos, and videos on social media platforms and send text messages. Against that backdrop, fewer Americans have made daily phone calls over the past two decades.
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