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Spelling, Texting Etiquette, And More - Yahoo! Maktoob Research Reveals What Makes People Tick When It Comes To Technology
Published Oct 12, 2011
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When is texting considered unacceptable? Are spelling mistakes on social networking posts ok? Is technology saving us from awkward situations? A new survey from Yahoo! Maktoob Research on user behavior in the Middle East and North Africa reveals all.
Saved by technology
Ever had a heated discussion about something and turned to your smartphone for the answer? According to a recent survey by Yahoo! Maktoob Research, 41% of respondents think ‘on-the-go’ connectivity frequently helps to solve – or avoid – disagreements with friends and family. In addition, over 40% of those surveyed confess to using a personal device to avoid an awkward social situation, such as uncomfortable silences, a habit most prevalent amongst smartphone users (40%), closely followed by tablet owners (35%) and lastly laptop users (31%). The findings showed that across all technology platforms, females are significantly less likely to hide behind technology to avoid conflict.
When is texting not acceptable? Depends who you ask.
When it comes to mobile etiquette amongst MENA users, there is a distinction between what is and is not acceptable behavior between the generations.
According to the survey, individuals aged 45+ adopt a stricter stance when it comes to public consumption of technology compared to youngsters aged 16-24. Overall, 60% of all respondents stated that texting during a work meeting or in class was unacceptable, however just over half of those aged 16- 24 believed that compared to 69% in the 45+ group.
The gap between attitude to mobile etiquette and that of older generations is further highlighted when it comes to acceptable norms for technology in social settings. Only 17% of youths feel that texting during a movie is unacceptable compared to 31% of the 45+ group, however both view the use of mobiles during weddings and important social gathering as impolite.
Bad spelling – Ok for tweets, but not for emails
Amongst the annoyances of mobile computing, misspelling and grammatical errors are the source of much irritation.. 79% of those surveyed in MENA by Yahoo! Maktoob Research stated that spelling mistakes in work emails annoyed them in some way; with 46% finding this lack of attention to detail ‘very annoying’. The trend prevails across personal emails, with 66% also annoyed by spelling errors.
Surprisingly, spelling errors on social network posts and updates also annoyed a large proportion of respondents, with 24% claiming to be ‘very annoyed’. In contrast, respondents indicated they were more relaxed with spelling when it came to tweets, text and instant messaging with the percentage of those ‘very annoyed’ dropping significantly to around 10%.
Freebies rule in the world of apps
Interest in mobile applications is growing across the MENA region. For smartphone users, 83% surveyed have downloaded a free application, while 25% have paid for apps. For tablet owners, paid for apps seem to be higher, with 34% indicating that they have purchased applications.
In terms of barriers to downloading, battery drain was highlighted by 48% of smartphone and tablet users as a barrier to increasing their demand for application downloads. This was followed by application malfunction on download (22%), security concerns (27%), and difficulty of use (19%).
Communication application downloads such as instant messaging are the most popular, with 57% of the MENA population, particularly amongst male users (61%).
For more information, please contact:
Mousa Nimer
Hill and Knowlton
Email: hala.saqqa@hillandknowlton.com
Tel: +971 4 33 44 930
Tala Toukan
Yahoo! Maktoob
Tel: +971 4 4456283
Email: ttoukan@yahoo-inc.com
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
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