Stress at Christmas – with the mobile phone under the tree

24. December 2018 Published by Raphael Doerr

It’s probably one of the biggest bones of contention when we celebrate Christmas in a few days’ time: Do we put away the smartphone when celebrating with our loved ones or get it out and record everything for posterity? A recent survey by Bitkom shows we’d prefer to do both.

Today is Christmas. Many of us are on the way to their families and looking forward to a tasty meal and unpacking presents. Also coming along on the journey is the smartphone. And that raises the question: Should we use it when we celebrate Christmas or not? Bitkom* has found an answer to that question in a representative survey of 1,007 respondents aged 16 and above.

Six out of ten Germans want to go without their mobile phone, at least during the Christmas dinner; more than one-fifth (21 percent) even ban smartphones for the whole evening. However, almost every one-in-four use their smartphone to take photos and videos – after all, there are enough motifs and memories you wish to record and perhaps share with family and friends. That is true of half of 16- to 29-year-olds.

And Christmas is not just a great opportunity to present such a piece of technology as a gift and try it out right away under the Xmas tree (say 20 percent), but also, of course, to let the kids, grandchildren or other relatives explain how it works in peace and quiet (7 percent).

However, the phone is of course especially important for reaching all those you can’t be with at Christmas. And even if this question was not asked, we’re pretty certain that every one of us will reach for the smartphone or fixed-line phone at least once in the coming days to make a very traditional phone call.