Mobile technology and smartphones have steadily increased the usage of video games and social media outlets in Sweden. According to the University of Gothenberg in Gothenberg, Sweden, over 60 percent of Swedish adolescents have a personal “smart†cellular telephone. The representative study of the Swedish people said that usage of the phone for voice calling and text messaging have steadily decreased in the most recent study completed in 2011 compared to the previous study in 2010. Instead, researchers say that mobile social media usage and mobile games are the most prevalent use of smartphones among a Swedish representative sample.
Mobile technology and smartphones have steadily increased the usage of video games and social media outlets in Sweden. According to the University of Gothenberg in Gothenberg, Sweden, over 60 percent of Swedish adolescents have a personal "smart" cellular telephone. The representative study of the Swedish people said that usage of the phone for voice calling and text messaging have steadily decreased in the most recent study completed in 2011 compared to the previous study in 2010. Instead, researchers say that mobile social media usage and mobile games are the most prevalent use of smartphones among a Swedish representative sample.
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Professor Ulla Carlsson led the study which showed that smartphones have nearly doubled usage of video games, especially among young people aged 9-14. Carlsson's team states that 60 percent of children in this age group play at least one video game per day either on a smartphone or on a computer.
Carlsson's team also noted that social media is on the rise with youths aged 15-24. She said that 90 percent of Swedish youth use at least one source of social media per day; Carlsson also stated that social media is now more popular than watching television which only has 75 percent of youth watching. "This pattern is quite different from media behavior in other age groups, where television viewing is much more common," said Carlsson.
Technological activities are also on the rise due to them being accessible via smartphones. Internet usage has increased steadily with 43 percent stating that they spend at least three hours surfing the web and 23 percent state that they spend more than five hours. Researchers say that this increase of internet usage is because people do not have to be on their home computers to gain internet access; they can simply go on the internet from their phones.
In addition to the internet, social media both online and on the go has also steadily increased because of the smartphone. Participating daily in social networking outlets such as Facebook and Twitter is the most popular form of social media with approximately 89 percent of youth using the websites. Listening to music from the internet is also very popular because 74 percent get their music in that fashion. Watching online video clips and reading blogs are also very popular as internet usage has been researched to be more passive than active. Carlsson's team said this because only four percent post their own videos and only nine percent write their own blogs.
The study is available for viewing here.
Image Credit: Smartphone via Shutterstock
