We are the plugged-in generation!

Perhaps leading to the demise of human social skills, most of us are dependent on the digital world much like our own cardiovascular system, according to new polling by CivicScience.

The research found that 60% of US internet users were almost always plugged into the web – with 43% claiming they were never disconnected from personal technology such as mobile phones, tablets and the TV.

The smartphone-addicted consumer are unsurprisingly more likely to be addicts of the digital world – they are 34% more likely than smartphone-free users to never halt their personal relationship with technology.

However, the study did find a sizable 20% of respondents respected a technology hiatus daily – with 23% of respondents aged 18 to 44 taking a break from personal technology a few times a year.

Alas, the research found that those aged 18-24 were also the most guilty demographic of a constant connection (53%).

Being wired into the membrane of the online world seems like a natural trend that will only rise as further research by eMarketer expects the rate of smartphone adoption and its role in ecommerce will only expand. They predict that the majority (51.4%) of US consumers to use a smartphone at least monthly this year—and 66.9% to do so in 2018.