You’re sitting at your desk working when you spy Chatty Matty walking down the hall toward your office. Instead of taking the chance that your talkative coworker will stop and waylay 15 minutes of your day, you pick up your phone and pretend to be on a call. According to a Pew Internet report released this week, that’s one way 13 percent of U.S. cell phone users are using their mobile phones–to avoid conversations.

The study, which surveyed 2,277 adults in April and May about their cell phone usage also found that one third of adult cell phone users own a smartphone with texting and taking photos topping the list of ways they use it. In the month prior to the survey, half had used their phone at least once to get information they needed right away and one quarter said that they experienced a situation in which they had trouble doing something because they did not have their phone at hand. The study also found that 42 percent of people use their phone for entertainment when they’re bored and 29 percent periodically turn off their phones to get a break from it.

Read more at Pew Internet ^[1].

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