A few decades ago it would be the father of the family sat in the toilet with a newspaper. Now that has been replaced by the cell phone. It turns out that there is a good chance that the photos you see on social media are actually being posted from the toilet. Furthermore, at some stage you’ve probably even been messaging someone that is sat on the toilet. Maybe you’re guilty of this yourself?
Cell phone trade-in site BankMyCell conducted a survey of over 2,000 Americans to find out what the current state of toilet texting is. The survey highlights some genetic data that we expected but also digs into some demographic features such as gender, generation, operating systems of their device and even what state they are from.
The survey highlights that usage of smartphones in the bathroom is primarily males, with 80% admitting to using the phone in the bathroom compared with the slightly lower 69% of women.
As expected younger people are far more likely to use their cell phone in the toilet, with over 96% of generation Z (under 23 year olds) admitting to being regular users.
Surprisingly Android users have topped the operating platform being predominantly used by 12%. It turns out 88% of Android users have admitted to using cell phones in the bathroom compared with 76% of iPhone users.
It also turns out that people don’t clean their phones often at all but will wash their hands after the toilet. Scientists in Arizona discovered that cell phones can be 10x dirtier than toilet seats in recent studies!
It’s not surprising that most of the phone users who are guilty of this habit are the younger generation. At least 90% of the people polled aged below 25 years admitted to using their phones in the toilet. Conversely, only about 11% of those aged above 70 said they carry their phones to the restroom.
We can’t forget about playing games and watching videos. iPhone trade-in site, BankMyCell, also found that 38% of Americans watch videos while 35% of men and 11% of women play games on their phones while attending to their toilet business.
This habit is not without some health risks. According to the study, phones are 10 times dirtier than toilet seats. However, only 16.5% of toilet phone users care to clean their phone, compared to 90% that at least wash their hands after using the toilet.
Score from the experts at Killer Infographics
Visual Communication - 80%
Design - 80%
Content/Script - 75%
Usability - 80%
79%
Final Grade
This infographic presents the results of a survey about who's using their phone on the toilet — and the opening illustration does a fabulous job of communicating the topic of the infographic without the viewer needing to read a word. The hilarious topic combined with this illustration make this a very shareable piece. The design style stays consistently engaging throughout, though it feels a little cramped at times and misses opportunities for data visualization. The content contains some errors that do distract a bit or hinder understanding. In the end, this is a relatively strong design likely to be successful. We'd give it a C+.
