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Pew Internet & American Life Project
Cell Phone Society
Many Americans now can't live without them - but sometimes they can't live with them.
The cell phone has become an integral and, for some, essential communications tool. Fully 74% of Americans who own mobile phones say they have used their hand-held device in an emergency and gained valuable help.
Mobile technology is also prompting Americans to shift the way they spend their time. Some 41% of cell phone owners say they fill in idle time such as periods spent traveling or waiting for someone by making phone calls. And 44% say they wait to make most of their cell calls for the hour of the evening when they are not charged for using their phone minutes.
At the same time, cell phone use poses new challenges. More than a quarter of cell phone owners (28%) admit they sometimes do not drive as safely as they should while they use their mobile devices, with men (32%) more likely than women (25%) to say they practice unsafe driving. And for some, the cell phone has become so central to their communications needs that they lose track of the expenses associated with their phones. About 36% of cell owners say they have been shocked from time to time by the size of their bills.
Furthermore, the vast majority of cell owners (81%) report being irritated at least occasionally by loud and annoying cell users who conduct their calls in public places.
Indeed, nearly one in ten cell phone owners (8%) admit they themselves have drawn criticism or irritated stares from others when they are using their cell phones in public.
These findings emerge in a national survey of cell phone owners by the Pew Research Center's Pew Internet & American Life Project, the Associated Press and AOL. The findings provide a detailed picture of the role of the cell phone in modern life, including how the use of cell phones has helped people become more spontaneous and prolific in their communication patterns. Half the survey was conducted among cell phone owners on their cell phones – one of the largest such samples ever conducted.
