SMART NEWS

You Switch Between Devices 21 Times Every Hour

Right now, you’re probably using your computer and phone, and perhaps a television, an iPad, and if you’re really fancy a smart watch

Rose Eveleth

Contributor

January 7, 2014

How many devices are you using right now? Probably your computer and phone. Perhaps a television, an iPad, and—if you’re really fancy—a smart watch. According to a new study from a British communications firm, people like you switch between that suite of devices about 21 times every hour while they’re at home.

The study looked at just 200 people, but it found that, over the course of an hour, people had the television on 95 percent of the time and flipped their attention between devices 21 times. “We were quite surprised, and I think the respondents were surprised as well,” Chris Worrell, the insight director at OMD, the firm who did the study, told Brand Republic. “Not only were they multitasking, but we were surprised at the sheer number of times that they were flip-flopping from one device to another.”

According to Business Insider, this lines up with what other marketers are seeing:

The results of the study confirm comments made in September by Google ad sales chief Neal Mohan, who told attendees of the Smarter Mobile Marketing conference that more than 90% of today's consumers switch effortlessly between devices to complete a task, with 500% more people simultaneously using multiple devices than were three years prior.

What about you? Did you switch between devices while reading this story? Are you about to check your phone, or what’s on the news? Have you already forgotten you meant to read to the end of this post?