Our recent report into consumer mobile phone use found a wealth of interesting data on how people use their phones, one of which particularly stood out because it shows how use has changed from the very first mobile phones.
Amazingly, of the huge 85% of the population who own a mobile phone, only 21% of people prefer to be called by friends instead of text. That means 42% prefer to either SMS or IM. The final 37% prefer social media, email, landline calls and, incredibly, post.
So gone are the days of calling round to arrange plans with your pals. We thought we’d do a survey to take a look at what happens when these friends collide, with some amusing results.
According to our survey:
- 32% of people get genuinely annoyed when their friends call them instead of replying to a text.
- 44% of millennials (18-34) get genuinely annoyed when someone calls them.
- 28% of people get annoyed when their friends text a reply to their call.
- 24% of all people surveyed avoiding texting friends who prefer to call.
- 38% of over 55s avoid texting friends who prefer to call.
Jason Palgrave-Jones, Managing Director of Textlocal, says:
“Smartphones have been widely adopted across all generations in the UK, but marked differences can be seen between age groups and even sexes. We’ve witnessed an ongoing shift away from friends directly speaking on the phone, with groups of friends using SMS and IM to keep in touch and chat.
“We put this down to messaging being quicker, easier and the message is retained on the phone. We are now seeing that shift for businesses too as they recognise the Smartphone allows them to reach their customers easily and via their preferred means of communication.”
