Instant messaging apps like WhatsApp and other social networks have gathered the attention of many people. It has become the habit of many people to check their smartphones every morning as soon as they wake up, and the last thing which they see before going to sleep. These smartphones and social media have changed the lives of many people. A professional services firm Deloitte, conducted a survey, to check the usage of mobile apps. The results of Deloitte’s mobile consumer survey 2015 are as follows.
Nearly, 78% of people who own their smartphone, check the mobile within 15 minutes after waking up, 52% of people said that they will check their smartphone before five minutes of going to sleep. The research founded that, people first check WhatsApp and other social media-related apps and then they check their mails and SMS. This shows how social media have attracted users across the globe.
The survey checked the mobile usage habits of around 49000 people from 30 countries, of which, 2000 people were Indians. In the survey, it was found that 86% of people own smartphones in 2015, which is 12% higher than in 2013. In the survey, about 28% of people said that they will check their mobile phone 11-25 times a day, about 22% of people said that they will use their device 26-50 times a day and 17% of people said that they will use their device for 51-100 times a day.
Rise of e-Commerce
From this survey, it is clear that smartphone usage has interrupted in almost all the activities of mankind. So the telecom sectors have to improve their services, in order to meet the customer requirements, said the director of Deloitte touché Tohmatsu India LLP. The voice calls and the SMS rates have decreased up to 20% when compared to the last two years. IM has increased 10% and VoIP has increased 22% when compared to the past two years. So it is the right time for the mobile carriers and the network operators to make use of this opportunity since there is a great thirst for data among the customers.
Nearly, two-third of the people who participated in the survey are not satisfied with the quality of the voice calls. This results in adopting the VoIP methods. People prefer VoIP calls because of the free international calls, and the possibility to make video calls. The quality of the network will be more important than the quality of voice calls, in the coming years. The usages of wifi in the home, workplace, and in any public place have increased for the past two tears. 43% of people used wifi in 2013, whereas in 2015, about 45% of people use wifi. And 57% of people started using the internet on their smartphones. Survey says that most of the people who were surveyed did not start using 4G networks, as per the reports, they will start using the 4G within a year.
Mobile banking trend
The research found that many people who were surveyed are interested in in-store payments and also in mobile money transfers. In the survey, 71% of people said that they use in-store money payments, and they are interested in it. 54% of people said that they are interested in mobile money transfer and they are going to practice it in the coming days.
About 39% of people feel that the in-store money transfer has some security issues. And above 19% of people feel that there is no benefit from this scheme. Another 19% of people feel that many stores do not permit this kind of money transfer.
Many people are fond of online shopping; they use mobile just to do shopping online. Whereas there is the other kind of people who are not interested in online shopping. 43% of people give preference to their smartphones, from other devices.
Limitations of overuse of smartphones:
Smartphone usage may have several advantages, but when it comes to health, it will have its own disadvantages. Smartphone over usage will cause some preoccupation behaviors such as an addition to smartphones, spending of more money for the usage of some applications and in shopping, using mobile phones in dangerous situations such as, while driving and in any meeting environment, etc. they may also have anxiety if they are separated from mobile phones due to poor signal conditions.
Ubiquity
Smartphone over usage can be differentiated by various age groups. Among the British children who were between the age 11-14, are addicted by 10%, whereas in India, the children of the same age group were addicted from 39-44%, these things are to be given importance by the parents and also by the society. This addition may affect their studies. In Korea, the addiction rate is 5-11%. This addition is treated as some kind of health issue. Men are less stressed when compared to women; they use their smartphones for social purposes. Older people are less addicted to smartphones.
Effects
The social and psychological effects of smartphone over-usage are as follows.
Health
Excessive use of mobile phones causes some health problems. People may tend to use mobile phones in many circumstances and situations, germs are present in every small thing, these germs can easily infect you when using your mobile phone. Research in 2011, found that one in six cell phones was infected by fecal matter, which is one of the sources of the bacteria named E.coli. These E.coil bacteria may cause fever and vomiting in humans. An Egypt research organization, says that the chance of spreading the bacteria is higher in cell phones.
One of the reasons for the occurrence of brain cancer is the excessive use of cell phones. There are many attributes which result in cancer, in which, we have to take into account that, how long we use the mobile phones. There is no particular evidence for linking mobile phone usage and cancer. But, the international research organization said that, radio frequency is the cause of brain cancer, in which the high-frequency matters, using the mobile phone in limit will not cause any damage to the human body. The high-frequency level has been confirmed as the cause of the tumors, this tumor results in cancer.
Using smartphones before going to bed, will cause the inability called insomnia, which is the disorder that causes the inability to sleep. World Health Organization suggested banning the use of electronic devices for toddlers.
In the psychological part, some of the children are using smartphones to harm other children. Research is going on regarding the positive and negative impacts of mobile phones. It is in the hands of each and every person to take care of themselves and protect them from any harm. As we know that, every little thing will have its own strengths and weakness, it is our responsibility to be aware and safeguard ourselves from the disadvantages, and use the technology in the right path.
