Internet addiction research is an ever-growing field, as more and more people worldwide are becoming reliant on the internet in their daily lives. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 81% of Americans own a smartphone, and 94% of them…

Three in four television viewers in the United States now use their smartphones while watching TV, with older audiences increasingly adopting second-screen viewing, according to new research from Omdia. The […]

Mobile advertising has become an integral part of the advertising industry, with its current significance mainly stemming from the rapid growth of smartphone usage around the world. In fact, as of 2021, there are approximately 3.8 billion smartphone users…

Every September, Apple's keynote had me convinced I was a Pro user. Turns out, I was just a very good audience.

Background: Digital self-control tools (DSCTs) have emerged as technological interventions to address excessive smartphone usage and promote digital well-being. However, these tools face persistent challenges with user attrition and sustained engagement, compromising their long-term effectiveness. Current literature lacks an understanding of how observable behavioral indicators, as opposed to self-reported measures, are associated with user engagement and readiness to change in DSCTs. Objective: This study addresses three research questions (RQs): (RQ1) whether prompting passive DSCT users to reconfigure nudges increases subsequent user-nudge interaction, (RQ2) how engagement evolves over time and what behavioral divergence emerges between accepting and rejecting users, and (RQ3) whether observable in-app behavioral indicators are more strongly associated with intervention acceptance than traditional self-reported measures. Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental study (N=252) targeting users who had disabled nudges. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a prompt to reconfigure their nudge settings during daily check-ins (n=138, experimental group) or to a control condition (n=114, no intervention). The experimental group was further classified into acceptance and rejection subgroups based on their response to the intervention. Data collection included DSCT configuration logs, usage-triggered nudge logs, and self-reported questionnaire responses. We analyzed user-nudge interaction ratios using difference-in-differences with permutation tests (RQ1) and nudge configuration parameters and manual app blocking using independent-samples tests with Cohen (RQ2) and compared behavioral indicators against self-reported measures using tests and chi-square tests (RQ3). Results: Of the experimental participants, 46% (63/138) accepted the nudge reconfiguration prompt. Post intervention, the acceptance subgroup’s 7-day average user-nudge interaction ratio increased from 29.7% to 58.5% (peak of 65% on day 1), a significant increase even after controlling for the temporal decline observed in the control group (difference-in-differences=+36.3 percentage points, .10). Conclusions: Observable in-app behavioral indicators, rather than self-reported measures, effectively differentiate intervention receptiveness. Study results suggest that effective DSCT design should incorporate adaptive strategies that recognize and respond to users’ readiness to change, as evidenced by their in-app behaviors, while preserving autonomy. Such systems are likely to outperform static interventions or designs that rely solely on self-reported preferences.

Let's go through the latest smartphone usage statistics & trends in Hong Kong. Gain valuable insights from our detailed analysis and stay informed about it!

A new study is raising alarms about the long-term effects of giving children smartphones too early, revealing that kids who receive a… The post Study Warns: Giving Kids Smartphones Before 13 Linked to Serious Mental Health Risks appeared first on Shine My Crown.

What seems like a harmless toilet habit might lead to hemorrhoids, causing discomfort in the future.

People seem to spend longer on the toilet if they use a smartphone while sitting there – and all that scrolling may be boosting their likelihood of getting haemorrhoids