A third of Brits find IT a drag

A third of Britons report feeling overwhelmed by modern communications technology as more of us spend increasing proportions of out daily lives using email, SMS and social networks.

The findings are based on research undertaken by John Clarkson, a professor at the University of Cambridge’s Engineering Design Centre.

His team found that nearly one in five Britons spends more than seven hours a day using communications technology – and that this was starting to impair family lives.

“Communications technology is changing the way that society interacts and now, with the explosion in personal communications devices, Wi-Fi and increasing broadband speeds, is a great time to start charting this change,” said Clarkson.

The research adds to the growing weight of evidence that new technology is not always making people's lives easier. Earlier in 2011, author Ian Price argued in his book, The Activity Illusion, that smartphones were sucking up people's free time without necessarily making them ay more productive at work.

While some enterprises have turned to all manner of IT, such as video messaging and conferencing, as low-cost alternatives to business travel, the research also shows that nothing beats being there in person. The research found that 65 per cent of Britons say face-to-face conversation was their preferred means of communicating.

The Cambridge research was based on interviews conducted with more than 1,200 people in the UK and was sponsored by BT.