'Gen Y needs to stay connected, drives every facet of their lives'

Your smartphone might just be termed as the 207th bone in your body

There are 206 bones in the human body, and the smartphone could plausibly be considered the 207th for Gen Y.  90% of Gen Y surveyed worldwide said they check their smartphones for updates in email, texts, and social media sites, often before they get out of bed, according to the 2012 Cisco Connected World Technology Report (CCWTR.)

Two out of five said they “would feel anxious, like part of me is missing,” if they couldn’t use their smartphones to stay connected. 

Based on a survey conducted by InsightExpress of 1,800 college students and young professionals aged 18 to 30 across 18 countries, the report examines how Generation Y uses the Internet and mobile devices to connect with the world around them.
 
Checking their mobile devices for text, email, and social media updates is how they start their day– often even before getting out of bed. For this generation, information is real-time, all the time. Nine of 10 respondents globally will get dressed, brush their teeth, and want to check their smartphones as part of the morning ritual for getting ready for school or work. In India, 96% of those who have smartphones will check for updates as part of the morning routine.

For employers, this is meaningful because it demonstrates that the workforce of the future is more agile, more informed, and more responsive than any previous generation.  They live to connect and communicate.

Globally, 60% of Gen Yers subconsciously or compulsively checking their smartphones for emails, texts or social media updates. In India, 70% of respondents compulsively check their smartphones for updates. Of those, 42% said they would feel anxious if they couldn't’t check their smartphones and 71% wish they didn’t feel so compelled, but they like to stay connected.

All this use of mobile phones has meant that the line between professional and personal life are blurring. Almost one third of IT professionals stated they check their smartphones ‘continuously’, while 40% of IT professionals check their smartphones for updates at least once every 10 minutes.

People check for work updates and communicate at all hours from every place imaginable, said the survey. Globally, three out of four respondents use smartphones in bed. In India, 84% of respondents use their smartphones in bed; in fact many check their smartphones in the morning before they get out of bed!  And for some, it’s the last thing they do at night; in bed.

Twenty-two percent of Indian respondents admitted to using smartphones in the bathroom compared to the global average of 33 percent. Mobile phones also have a place on the dinner table with more than half of Indian respondents (56%) use smartphones to check email and social media during meals with friends and family compared to the global average of 46%.

The urge to stay connected is also impacting our relation with our friends. With many preferring to have online friendship versus in-person. Forty% spend more time online with friends than socializing in person. In India, the number is above the global average and stands at 56%. About 83% of Indian’s also said they spend an equal amount or more time socializing online with friends than they do in person.
 
The survey also found that online and real world identities aren’t the same. Connecting online creates opportunities to stretch everyday boundaries and try out a new persona – but on the flip side it can lay the foundation for deception. Four of five (81%) believe that people have different online and offline identities. In India, this number is slightly higher at 87%

When asked about themselves, only 44% said their online identity was the same as their real world “offline” identity. In India, more than half (59%) said they have the same online and offline identities

Mobile devices are just the beginning. As more and more people, processes, data and things join and interact on the “Internet of Everything,” the volume and potential value of all the data generated by those connections grow exponentially.