A new national study of young people in the UK by the leading mobile phone price comparison website has revealed attitudes towards the general election and shows a large number would be more likely to vote if they could do so using text messaging or social media.

The UK’s leading mobile phone price comparison website www.rightmobilephone.co.uk has conducted research of 1,082 young people aged 18-25 and found that 36% of the respondents aren’t planning to vote in the general election this year, but 3 in 4 of those said they would if they could do so via text message or social media.

When asked, ‘are you planning to vote in the general election this year?’ more than a third said they wouldn’t. 42% claimed they didn’t really understand politics enough to vote, whilst 51% said they couldn’t be bothered to take the time to go to the polling stations. The remaining 7% said they thought their vote wouldn’t make a difference, therefore deeming it unnecessary.

Of those who were planning to opt out of the general election vote this year, 76% said they would be more likely to take part if they could place their vote via text or social media, such as a Facebook page or on Twitter.

Two thirds of the respondents, 66%, said that they had placed votes on a reality TV show in the past using their mobile, which was a higher number than the percentage who said they would be voting for the general election this year. Of those who would vote if they could do so by text or through social media, 19% weren’t concerned about privacy issues and other people finding out who they had voted for.

24% said there could be issues with people voting more than once, but this was a concern that didn’t stop 89% of the total respondents saying they thought voting via text would be possible after the next General Election.

Neil McHugh, co-founder of rightmobilephone.co.uk, said;

“As our results prove social media and mobile phones could be a very powerful way for political parties to interact and communicate with this generation. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube weren’t as established in previous elections, but now provide a far reaching platform for any political party who are savvy enough to include them in their election strategy. As for voting via your mobile phone, the concept is great but I think we are a few years away yet. Obviously privacy and security issues would be a concern along with the margin for error, but hopefully in the future it’s something that can be overcome and get more of the population making a difference.”

Alberto Nardelli, founder of Tweetminster.co.uk, a service which aims to make politics more transparent by giving users access to the Twitter posts from MPs and politicians, said;

“In the US, mobile campaigning played a central role in the past election, especially in terms of engaging and mobilising first time voters. It’s surprising than in the UK none of the parties place mobile at the core of their campaigns, more importantly in a context where young voters and first-time voters can be decisive, it will be interesting to see which party first experiments with mobile”.

LINK http://www.rightmobilephone.co.uk

LINK http://www.tweetminster.co.uk

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For further information or to set up interviews with Neil McHugh or James Zielinski please contact Shannon Haigh , 10 Yetis PR Agency, [email protected], 01452 348211.

Notes to editors

Rightmobilephone.co.uk was launched in November 2007 to help consumers save time and money by providing a trusted comparison platform for customers to purchase from.

The site has become the UK’s most comprehensive and user friendly mobile phone comparison engine, with 600,000+ mobile phone offers combined with user friendly consumer reviews, ratings and video.

Users can review and compare over 800 handsets with images, specifications and video with unique users reviews, opinions and ratings provided by handset owners and compare over 2000 + pay as you go offers and tariffs from all major networks.

77% of smartphone owners won’t get a proper break from work this Christmas, research by the UK’s leading mobile phone price comparison website has shown.

New research of 1,053 smartphone owners by the UK’s leading mobile phone price comparison website has shown that more than 3 in 4 people claim they will not be able to take a proper break from the office this Christmas, as their Blackberry or iPhone handsets will prevent them from being able to relax completely.

www.rightmobilephone.co.uk discovered that of the 77% who said they will be checking their smartphones over the festive period, two thirds would do it on a daily basis. Other findings of the study included the top reasons why people felt they had to check their emails whilst on holiday.

The most common reason was dedication, with 45% claiming they will keep their smartphone on them at all times in case something important crops up. 26% said checking emails is a habit they are unable to break, while 11% admitted they will be more concerned about impressing their boss in the hope of a New Year promotion or bonus.

Just under half of the respondents, 49%, are predicting that their obsessive smartphone checking will cause a row with family members this Christmas and 58% will be packing their phone charger before taking trips to see friends and relatives.

Rightmobilephone.co.uk has come up with the top five tips for switching off this Christmas;

1. Leave it at home – If you know that you aren’t going to be needed for anything, leave your Smartphone at home when visiting family and friends. If you don’t have it on you, it won’t interfere with your plans.
2. Switch it off – If only for an hour or two, switch your smartphone off to avoid arguments and to have a bit of time to totally relax.
3. Out of office – Set up an auto-response to let people know you’re out of the office. If you don’t get back to them straight away, they won’t start chasing you.
4. Make your absence known – Let colleagues and clients know what days you will not be working, so they are less likely to contact you during your leave.
5. Silence is Golden – Switch your handset to silent, not vibrate or loud mode. If you get a call or an email, you won’t know and won’t be tempted to answer or read it. You might even find you forget that your Blackberry exists… for a minute or two!

Speaking about these latest findings, Neil McHugh, co-founder of rightmobilephone.co.uk commented;

“I wasn’t surprised by the number of people who said they will be checking their smartphones this Christmas. Checking emails is a hard habit to break, especially in the case of the Blackberry when that flashing red light catches your eye!

“Our top five tips will hopefully help people to have a more relaxed Christmas that allows more quality time for family and not clients. I know how difficult it can be to switch off from work when you have a constant reminder in your pocket or bag all day, but for one day of the year at least, people should be able to switch off.”

***ENDS***

For further information or to set up interviews with Neil McHugh or James Zielinski please contact Shannon Haigh , 10 Yetis PR Agency, [email protected], 01452 348211.

Notes to editors

Rightmobilephone.co.uk was launched in November 2007 to help consumers save time and money by providing a trusted comparison platform for customers to purchase from.

The site has become the UK’s most comprehensive and user friendly mobile phone comparison engine, with 600,000+ mobile phone offers combined with user friendly consumer reviews, ratings and video.

Users can review and compare over 800 handsets with images, specifications and video with unique users reviews, opinions and ratings provided by handset owners and compare over 2000 + pay as you go offers and tariffs from all major networks.