OTTAWA – A majority of Canadians suffer from disconnect anxiety – or feelings of disorientation and nervousness experienced when they are unable to connect to the Internet or a wireless service for a long period of time, according to the results of a survey released this week by Solutions Research Group.
The study found that 59% of Canadians experienced “anxiety” when disconnected, with 26% exhibiting “significantly” elevated levels of anxiety and 33% “above-average” levels of anxiety.
Four main reasons – safety (not being able to respond to an emergency), work (miss important information or chance for promotion), social (miss the party) and navigation (might get lost/unable to find the way) – were cited as the reasons behind the anxiety.
The anxiety cause is generally related to age groups, according to the research. Tween or teens, who connect by texting, instant messaging and Facebook, are more apt to have social or navigational anxiety (feel cut off from their friends). Young adults, who connect through texting, Facebook, regular email and instant messaging, tend to have the same type of anxiety as the teens.
Xers or Boomers, who communicate through regular email, mobile email, Facebook and texting if they have kids, become more fearful due to work/safety concerns. Older adults, who connect through regular email, some instant messaging or Skype with family, have minimal anxiety. Disconnect anxiety is generally not a problem for older adults, even though they may feel a bit cut off from their grandchildren.
The data in the report was derived mainly from Solutions Research Group’s Canadian tracking study “Fast Forward” for 2006 and 2007.
