Media Multitasking at Home: A Video Observation Study of Concurrent TV and Mobile Device Usage

Increasingly people interact with their mobile devices while watching television. We evolve an understanding of this kind of everyday media multitasking behaviour through an analysis of video data. In our study, four households were recorded watching television over three evenings. We analysed 55 hours of footage in which participants were watching the TV. We found that mobile device habits were highly variable between participants during this time, ranging from 0% to 23% of the time that the TV was on. To help us understand this variability, participants completed the Media Multitasking Index (MMI) questionnaire. Results showed that participants with a higher MMI score used their mobile device more while watching TV at home. We also saw evidence that the TV was being used as a hub in the home: multiple people were often present when the time the TV was on, providing a background for other household activities. We argue that video analysis can give valuable insights into media multitasking in the home.