Nearly every third respondent (30%) from South Africa gives a nickname to their personal and home devices – with smartphones topping the list – according to a Kaspersky “Digital Superstitions” survey about people’s attitudes toward modern technologies and gadgets.
Some digital devices may be used by people for many years and those can play an important role in their everyday life. It is not surprising, then, that the owners become attached to their devices – and some even form an emotional attachment to their devices that’s comparable to bonds with friends or pets.
Many people treat home devices as if these objects are animate creatures that they can converse with or persuade to start working again in case the device is not operating optimally. For example, 90% of South African users surveyed talk at their smartphones, 57% to laptops, 36% to TVs, 21% to routers, 16% to smart speakers, 11% to electric kettles and coffee machines, and 5% to robot vacuum cleaners.
According to the Kaspersky survey, 49% of respondents from South Africa speak to their devices in some way – and not to give voice commands but, for example, to ask the device to work or to swear at it if it freezes. Additionally, 81% of users from South Africa feel empathy for their devices if they get damaged, dropped, or broken.
“As people become more attached to their digital devices, they often tend to start treating these devices as if they were their friends or pets – and develop a feeling of trust and empathy towards their gadgets,” says Brandon Muller, technology expert and consultant for the MEA region at Kaspersky. “However, it is important to strike a balance here and maintain some objectivity and boundaries – similarly to how one should in all of our interpersonal relationships – otherwise there is a risk of facing cybercriminals who can use this trust for their own purposes.
“Excessive trust in digital devices and robotic systems can provoke users to overshare their personal information, decrease their healthy skepticism and cautiousness and, as a result, make them victims of cybercriminals,” Muller adds.