Do you micro-scroll on your mobile, you are not alone

A TalkTalk study looking at how we all use our mobile phones suggests that many of us will pick up our phones to fill in gaps of just 30 seconds, and that the total average screen time per day may be 3 hours and 18 minutes a day. This is double the screen time of other studies and may have implications beyond the need to keep charging your phone every night, rather than every other day.

“We all know how easy it is to find ourselves scrolling on autopilot, especially when we’re just looking to fill a spare few moments at home.. Our data shows we are spending nearly a decade of our lives lost in these unconscious screen moments, and it is happening right in our living rooms where we’re often already streaming or gaming. These simple tips and digital tools like HomeSafe will help our customers log off second and third devices more easily, reclaim some offline time, and ensure their home Wi-Fi is performing at its best when and where they really need it.“

Steve Wallage, Chief Product Officer at TalkTalk

In terms of where people are scrolling on their phones the most popular places are:

• Sofa while relaxing (52%)
• Sofa while watching TV (51%)
• In bed at night (31%)
• During TV adverts (27%)
• In bed in the morning (25%)
• On the toilet (16%)
• While eating (11%)
• On a phone call (9%)
• While working or studying from home (9%)
• Waiting for the kettle to boil (9%)

Digital wellness sounds daft, but if people are absorbing social media for 3 hours 18 minutes a day that is a lot of time, and with the algorithms often presenting divisive material a skewed picture of the world can get cemented as reality.

Taking a break from your phone and the constant doom scrolling is something worth doing, unfortunately we are all so used to doing it, that as soon as an advert break appears on TV we are picking up our phone once again.

With regards to broadband and Wi-Fi with mobile phones being used so heavily in the home, making sure your Wi-Fi is reliable is paramount. Time spent making sure your wireless router is not hidden behind a bunch of clutter is obvious but less obvious is that small changes in position can sometimes help to reduce dead-zones or make them worse, so it is always worth a bit of time getting the position just right.