Okay, so apparently we've become so social media obsessed that even when nature calls, we just can't put down our always-connected devices - so says a new Nielsen Digital Consumer report that claims 40 percent of U.S. young adults (18-to-24) use social media while indisposed. Yes, you read that correctly, while going to the bathroom. Yikes!
Let's hope the Instagramming and Vining are being kept to minimum during this time.
The report also added that U.S. TV viewers are increasingly watching programs on their own schedule. In the past year, time-shifting of television content grew by almost two hours, averaging 13 hours per month, the study found. Viewers averaged nearly 134 hours of live TV viewing a month in 2013, down nearly three hours from 2012.
Despite the aforementioned time spent in the bathroom with social media, the study found that television still remains central to media consumption even with our continued increase in time-shifted viewing and streaming video through a computer or smartphone.
Other cringe-inducing findings in the study included the fact that 48 percent of moms with kids in the car under the age of 13 are using social media while they're in the car, versus 31 percent overall (scary). Then there's this one - and while it's significantly less scary than the brain dead moms posting that they're stuck in traffic on their way to the mall, it is simply super annoying - over 50 percent of adults ages 25-34 use social media around a restaurant table. Is there no end to how crippled we've become by all this?
The study also reported that gadget-loving U.S. individuals now own an average of four digital devices with the majority of U.S. households owning high-definition TV sets, Internet-connected computers and smartphones, and nearly half also own digital video recorders and gaming consoles. Toss in an average of about 60 hours a week viewing content across various platforms and it's a wonder anything constructive is getting done in this country.
