Young British Women value Phones more than Telly

Young British adults have become dependent on their mobile phones. Their phones mean more to them than television reveals a social study of mobile phones from The Carphone Warehouse, advised by The London School of Economics and Political Science.

This appears to be particularly true for young women of 18-24 years old. 32% named it their most important electronic possession, ahead of television (at 11%). Men in this age group are not quite as attached to their phones as women, but 19% still name it as their most important technology product.

The "Mobile Life Report" presents a survey of 16,500 people by polling organisation YouGov. Amongst its findings are that texting has overtaken talking as the most popular way to use mobile phones and that a majority of the young women asked use their mobile phone to deter the unwanted advances of men. The report points out that 'in our parents’ day, a book or newspaper prevented unwanted approaches in public. Today, 21% of respondents agreed that "I sometimes use my mobile phone in public situations to deter people from approaching me".' This applies especially to women under 25, where the total reaches 55%.

On average people send 3.6 mobile text messages a day vs. making 2.8 voice calls a day. Among 18-24 year olds texting has had the biggest impact: for example, 51% of 18-24 year-olds send/receive at least six text messages a day – but only 15% have six or more mobile phone conversations a day. This trend also applies, though less dramatically, to the 25-29 year old mobile phone users. And over half of the 18-24 year old age group have sent or received a sexually explicit text (54%) and a quarter of this group has sent or received a sexually explicit picture or video (25%).

The survey also touched on dating habits and found over half of all mobile phone-users aged 18-24 have either sent or received an invitation to a date by text (57%). In addition, over a fifth of the 18-24 year old category have sent or received a text to end a relationship. Exactly one quarter of all mobile phone-users think that sending a flirty text to someone is not a form of cheating.

Looking at crime, approximately 1 in 10 people (9%) have had a mobile phone stolen. Young adults aged between 18 and 24 are most at risk, with 17% of women in this age group having had their phone stolen compared with 10% of men.

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