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Mobile Device Usage Across Ages

“Anybody have plans to stare at their phone somewhere exciting this weekend?” (-Nitya Prakash)

Mobile device usage has increased for all ages, and will continue to increase far into the future.  Here, we define mobile device usage as time spent using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.  But how does mobile device usage vary across different generations? And what are the effects of mobile device usage, especially of screen time on young children?  To answer these big questions, we dove into the topic of mobile device usage by delving into previous research, compiling statistics, and conducting interviews. This chapter is divided into two sections, researched and written by two different authors. We will begin more broadly, getting a feel for mobile device usage in different age groups. Then, we will focus on children, specifically, and how this increase in mobile device usage has affected them and what can be done to make the screen time less harmful.

What are Mobile Devices For? It Depends!

Catherine Murdock

In 2021, it is impossibly difficult to imagine life without technology. Specifically, it’s impossibly difficult to imagine life without those little rectangles we carry around everywhere in our pockets: our cell phones. These widgets provide us with almost any information we need within the click of a few buttons. Whether it’s texting a friend, calling your mom, emailing a professor, googling a topic out of curiosity, taking a quick break to play a game, or browsing Instagram, these cell phones allow us to do it. While the capabilities of cell phones fulfill numerous desires, each person uses their phone’s capabilities in a different way. Some people use certain apps more than others, some people only use a couple apps, and some people use their phone more often than others. I wanted to learn about the different ways people use their phones, but I wanted to see if there was a pattern by age group. I broke down mobile device users into age groups and investigated how individuals in these groups use their phones and how their use differs from people in other age groups. In all, I interviewed 6 people. All names are pseudonyms. For each, I asked:

1. What is your most used app?
2. How much time do you spend on this app per day?
3. How much time do you spend on your device per day?
4. What’s the first app you open every day?
5. What app do you use to communicate the most?
6. Do you use your device for entertainment, communication, or social media the most?
7. What’s the best part about your device?

In each infographic, I also summarize what journalists and academics report about the usage of each age group in general.

Mobile Device Usage by Age Group

Now that we’ve broken down the population into different age groups and learned how they use their phones, it’s time to bring it all together. We see some trends appearing that relate to a person’s age.

Social Media

We don’t see much use in the youngest age group, but then as someone gets older, they use social media more and more. Eventually, social media usage comes back down with older age, like a bell-shaped curve. At a young age, parents often don’t allow their children to have social media. Once people reach the age where they are mature enough to have social media accounts, they download these apps and spend a lot of time on them. Here, social media usage increases a lot, especially because peers and friends have accounts as well, feeding into the urge to use it. Once someone finishes school and starts working, they have less time for social media and place a lower priority on it as they focus on other aspects of their lives. Instead of using social media, they tend to use apps like Google Chrome, which are more centered on knowledge based activities: reading articles or googling a question they were curious about. The older generation barely uses social media, partly because it was never something they grew up with or experienced. They do not feel a need to use it, and mostly avoid the social media world.

Entertainment

This is far more popular in the younger age groups than the older ones. When children spend time on their devices, they often gravitate towards YouTube and Netflix, both video watching platforms. When they have nothing else to do and cannot use social media, these platforms fulfill their needs by entertaining them for hours without having to put effort into deciding what to do– videos keep on playing. As people get older and obtain social media accounts, they tend to use these in their free time instead of entertainment-focused apps. Similar to the trend in social media, as someone gets older, they place a smaller priority on entertainment and focus their time elsewhere.

Communication

Another trend we see is people viewing their phone as primarily for communication. Oddly enough, these people sometimes spend the most time on other apps, like video watching apps or social media. This is because even though the “most important” and “most frequent” thing they do on their phone is communicate, the other apps suck up more time. People go on Instagram when they’re bored or Netflix when they want to watch a show. On the other hand, communication happens in short spans of time: a quick text message or a quick phone call or FaceTime. Although communication is of high importance, it takes less time to accomplish. Additionally, the first app that most people open every day has some relation to communication. In the mornings, the first thing people tend to do is check who contacted them while they were offline, whether it be friends, family, or work related. This reinforces the idea that people prioritize communication and are the most attentive to it.

Overall, it is clear that no matter what age you are, mobile devices offer some kind of benefit. People of different ages spend time on different apps, but how they spend their time is a function of what they need or want to get done.

Screen Time: Hero or Menace?

The effects of screen time on children under 5

Theresa M. Heidenreich

Imagine you’re sitting at a restaurant with your family, and your 2-year-old child starts to throw a temper tantrum.  In an attempt to calm your child, you whip out your cell phone, put on the first episode of Paw Patrol you can find, and give the screen to your child.  Instantly, your child stops crying, captivated by the screen.  But what are the effects of this screen time on your child?  This infographic analyzes and compiles the effects of screen time on children under the age of 5, as well as provides a series of recommendations for parents and guardians regarding screen time use for children under the age of 5.

Screen Time— Hero or Menace

References Cited

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Ataş, Amine Hatun and Berkan Çelik. 2019. “Smartphone Use of University Students:

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Auxier, Brooke and Monica Anderson. 2021. “Social Media Use in 2021.” Pew Research Center website. April 7. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/04/07/social-media-use-in-2021/

Auxier et al. 2020. “Parenting Children in the Age of Screens.” Pew Research Center website. July 28. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/07/28/childrens-engagement-with-digital-devices-screen-time/

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Liu, Wenwen, Xiaoyan Wu, Kun Huang, Shuangqin Yan, Liya Ma, Hui Cao, Hong Gan, Fangbiao Tao. 2021. “Early childhood screen time as a predictor of emotional and behavioral problems in children at 4 years: a birth cohort study in China.” Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. 26 (3):1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12199-020-00926-w.

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Molla, Rani. 2020. “Tech Companies Tried to Help us Spend Less Time on our Phones. It Didn’t Work.” Vox website. January 6. Accessed November 30, 2021. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/1/6/21048116/tech-companies-time-well-spent-mobile-phone-usage-data

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