In the age of Attention Deficit Disorder, the man with the tablet is king. The king of distraction, that is.
Nearly half of American tablet and smartphone users are surfing the web on their devices while watching TV, according to a recent study conducted by Nielsen. What's more, more than 80 percent of those owners are surfing while TV watching at least once a month. Talk about overstimulation.
But it's not entirely surprising. The new marketing mantra involves adding Twitter, Facebook and other web info to commercials, directing viewers to company's web sites for further details on their products. And services like Yahoo!'s Connected TV surface pop-up menu bars while you watch a show, offering data, background info and stats to users through a tablet or smartphone app.
Indeed, most of the content that users access during TV time is either advertisement-related or background information relating to the shows they're watching, according to Nielsen.
In Europe, however, it seems that viewers are more interested in one activity at a time. In Italy and Germany, around 30 percent of tablet and smartphone owners say they never use their devices while watching TV. Perhaps it's the rich film history both countries have?
Or maybe the Europeans remember to take their Ritalin.
