40 Percent Of Millennials Say They Use Their Handsets To Avoid Conversations With Others

According to Bank of America’s latest Trends in Consumer Mobility Report, 40 percent of millennials, i.e. people who came of age right around the year 2000, make full use of their smartphones in trying to avoid talking to other people, especially relatives on holiday get togethers like Thanksgiving, for instance.

It is no secret that mobile devices are fast becoming man’s best friend. Two thirds of mobile users based in America have become entirely dependent on their smartphones and tablets in order to get directions. More than half have stated that they trust their handsets more than they trust family and friends. 

But it seems that users have found a new purpose for their mobile devices -- as a means for escaping an awkward conversation with that weird aunt. The Trends in Consumer Mobility Report’s survey (taken in March and April earlier this year) shows that out of more than a thousand adults living in the United States, a full quarter of them have admitted to getting busy with their smartphones in order to avoid conversations -- you know, the kind you do face to face with real people, instead of chatting online with friends. For millennials, 17 percent of them use their smartphone to avoid talking while on a date. A generation ago, lighting a cigarette was a sign that you do not want to engage in a conversation. Today, pulling out your smartphone is the new don’t-talk-to-me signal.

As for selfies -- well, one would have thought that millennials have this pastime cornered. But it turns out that while a whopping 93 percent of millennials have admitted to taking selfies, 50 percent of seniors and 61 percent of baby boomers have also done the deed. 

Last month, we reported about a study conducted by Intel, showing that millennials are less attached to their smartphone devices compared to members of the Generation X. But the Trends in Consumer Mobility Report offer a different take on that. It says that 39 percent of millennials feel anxious when they do not have access to their smartphone, 43 percent get bored, 25 percent fear they are missing out, and 20 percent feel relief. Now contrast that to the general American population -- 29 percent feel anxious, 22 percent get bored, 13 percent fear they are missing out, and 12 percent feel relief.

For more information, you can check out the full Trends in Consumer Mobility Report right here.