What people do on their phones in the toilet – scroll through social media, read news, play games and do work are survey’s top 4 responses
- A recent survey of 9,800 adults in 10 countries asked whether they used their smartphone in the bathroom and if so, what for
- Of those who said they did use it, 53 per cent scroll through social media, 38 per cent catch up on news, 31 per cent play games and 29 per cent do work tasks
It used to be that going to the bathroom was an escape from the world and a moment of quiet time. Sure, some people would leaf through a newspaper or magazine, but generally it was a brief respite from everything else.
Not any more, at least for most people. A survey by cybersecurity company NordVPN asked 9,800 adults in 10 countries whether they use their smartphone in the bathroom – 65 per cent said that they do.
Spanish people were the ones most likely to be online even when answering the call of nature, at almost 80 per cent. They were followed by Poland (73 per cent), the US (71 per cent), Lithuania (67 per cent), Canada (66 per cent), and the Netherlands and France both on 64 per cent.
Bringing up the rear (ahem) were Australia (62 per cent), the UK (59 per cent), and Germany (55 per cent).
The most popular smartphone activity while on the loo is scrolling through social media (53 per cent). People also catch up on news (38 per cent), play games (31 per cent), do work tasks (29 per cent), call or message friends (29 per cent), and watch videos, movies or TV (26 per cent).