Top 12 digital displeasures: online ads and loud smartphone conversations top list

Trigger Happy TV: ‘I’m on the phone’

Online ads that follow you around and people holding loud and long phone conversations in public places are the worst irritants of our modern digital age, according to a new international poll.

In an online YouGov survey of 5,029 Americans and Brits conducted on behalf of Living MacTavish, they topped the list of digital aggravations.

People playing music or videos at full volume in public on their phones and “Phone Zombie” pedestrians bumping into you or each other on the pavement ranked third and fourth respectively. 

Endless online requests for feedback or ratings and having to compete for attention with people’s phones at mealtimes ranked joint fifth.

Says Susan MacTavish Best, the founder of Living MacTavish:

“We’ve entered the age of digital overwhelm and tech fatigue. We’re tiring of the constant distraction and intrusion of technology in our relationships and daily lives. Offline is the new online.”

Poll respondents were shown a list of 12 behaviours or experiences common to our modern digital age and asked to pick the ones that they personally found annoying. 

The two experiences that polled joint top, on the basis of each irking nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents, were:

  • Online ads for something you once clicked on, that then keep following you around
  • People having loud and endless phone conversations in public places.

There is, says MacTavish Best, “a digital paradox” to our time. “The more digital that the world becomes, the more people are realising that all real relationships and business deals happen offline, in an analogue world. 

“And it’s folks in their twenties and early thirties, the so-called digital natives, who are leading the charge back to the future and adopting the old analogue ways with most gusto.” 

Four other options were found annoying by over half of all poll respondents.

  • People playing music or videos on their phones at full volume on public places (59%)
  • Phone Zombies­ – alias “distracted walkers” – bumping into you and/or each other on the pavement (55%)
  • Having to compete for attention with people’s phones during meals and/ or other face-to-face conversations (53%)
  • Endless requests to “rate” or give feedback on companies or services you’ve contacted. (53%)

The single most irksome thing for those 55+ was “People having loud and endless phone conversations in public places”.

What, by contrast, annoyed the largest percentage of those 18-24, were “Online ads for something you once clicked on, that then keep following you”. 

What the largest share of Americans (63%) found annoying were those loud and endless phone conversations in public places, while the largest share of Brits (65%) disliked the online ads that followed you around. 

Other things that irked a major share of all respondents included:

  • Social media “mobs” acting as “the moral police” (i.e., in online discussions/ debates about controversial issues). (48%)
  • People constantly photographing their food/drinks in restaurants and bars. (41%)
  • ‘Perfect selfies’ on Instagram or other social media, where the person is always ‘beautiful’/ airbrushed/ smiling. (38%).

Living MacTavish is a business that connects people in the offline world by hosting salon-style gatherings of thought-leaders in San Francisco, New York and London.

The Poll Results In Full

  1. The following behaviours and/ or experiences seem like common features of the modern digital age…Which, if any, of the following do you personally find annoying? (Please select all that apply.)

 

POLL RESULTS

Rank Behaviour or Experience %
1.= Online ads for something you once clicked on, that then keep following you around

 

 63
1.= People having loud and endless phone conversations in public places

 

 63
3. People playing music or videos on their phones at full volume on in public places

 

 59
4. “Phone Zombies”/”distracted walkers” bumping into you and/ or lampposts or each other on the pavement

 

 55
5.= Endless requests to “rate” or give feedback on a company or service you’ve contacted

 

 53
5.= Having to compete for attention with people’s phones during meals and/ or other face-to-face conversations

 

 53
7. Social media “mobs” acting as “the moral police” (i.e., in online discussions/ debates about controversial issues)

 

 48
8. People constantly photographing their food/drinks in restaurants and bars

 

 41
9. ‘Perfect selfies’ on Instagram or other social media, where the person is always ‘beautiful’/ airbrushed/ smiling etc.

 

 38
10. Parents boasting about their family on social media

 

 29
11. People posting ‘perfect’ holiday and/ or party snaps on social media

 

 23
12. Not being able to get a seat in cafes because of people on laptops

 

 19
  None of these 2%
  Don’t know 3%

Methodology: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 5,029 adults, of which 2,201 were UK adults and 2,822 were US adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 12th – 16th October 2018. The survey was carried out online. The figures for each country have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults and all US adults (aged 18+) respectively.

 

Chris Price