Are you reading this on your smartphone? According to the results of a recent study surveying people on their digital habits, chances are that you are.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the smartphone screen time of people in Belgium has shot up, and we spend an average of 188 minutes – which is more than three hours – per day looking at our phone screens.
While this would make sense in times of lockdown, Zoom meetings and social distancing, people have remained hooked to their devices now that nearly all of those restrictions are gone, according to research leader Lieven De Marez.
"The world is opening up again, but we remain stuck in these new habits. In doing so, we spend an extra 35 minutes per day staring at our smartphone," he said.
The majority of respondents (53%) said that smartphones are their most-used device, followed by computers (28%). After that come tablets, other devices and televisions in last place.
Most of our screen time goes to social media (an average of 47 minutes per day), then chats (28 minutes) and browsing the internet (24 minutes). The remaining 89 minutes are spent on video apps, games, news apps, email, and navigation.
A quick screen time check tells me I've been on my phone for 2 hours and 7 minutes already, and it is only 13:20. Help.
Does that sound like you too? Let @Maajtee know.
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