According to a new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 13% of adults have used their phones to look busy so they wouldn’t have to talk with others. That percentage more than doubled among young adults 18 to 29, 30% of whom said they’d faked cellphone use as a way to avoid someone they didn’t want to talk to. There’s even websites that will let you put in a time to have your cellphone ring so you can get out of a meeting or talking to someone who just won’t leave you alone. Only 2% of those 65 and older say they use their cellphones to avoid dealing with others. Aside from preventing unwanted interaction with others, people also use their phones for a variety of other things:
Information retrieval: 51% have used their phone at least once to get information they needed right away.
Emergencies: 40% of cellphone owners said their phone helped them in an emergency situation.
Entertainment: 42% said they used the cellphones to stave off boredom.
Text messaging and picture taking: 73% of cellphone owners use their devices for text messaging and taking pictures.
Multimedia: 54% of us have used our phone to send photos or videos to others, while 44% use their phone to access the Internet.
