For the uninitiated, an “ick” is a turnoff – something that somebody does instantly makes you go, “It’s a no from me”. While there’s an abundance of these in the dating world, what about the digital world, where we spend most of our day?
Domain and hosting provider, Fasthosts, were curious about the biggest digital icks in our very tech-oriented world, so they asked the question: What is your biggest digital ick?
Playing things out loud from your phone
Those who play things out loud from their phone in public take the top spot by a landslide. Whether it’s a group chat’s voice note, your TikTok “For You’” page, or an entire conversation on speakerphone, 35% of people despise it when others play things for the world to hear. The biggest digital ick of them all.
Sent from my iPhone
What was once a thinly veiled humblebrag has now become rather crass and – in perfect honesty – a little embarrassing. Whether you haven’t figured out how to turn it off or deliberately chose to leave it there, 17% of those surveyed said this email signature was their digital ick, making it a joint second.
Having 999+ unread emails
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who keep a meticulously organised inbox and those who thrive on chaos. After a certain point, even Apple stops trying to keep up and marks your email app with a clear indicator that you have the digital equivalent of Pandora’s box on your home screen. This one’s up in the top spot, with another 17% of people choosing this as their ultimate digital ick.
Not using keyboard shortcuts
This is a niche but an ick for the techy people – 7% of those surveyed don’t like it if someone right-clicks and selects ‘copy’ instead of CTRL+C. If this resonates with you, then you work in tech or with spreadsheets.
Using Bing instead of Google
Many will think this is self-explanatory – Google is the king of search engines, whereas many people see Bing as the one your laptop comes with. Both do the same job, so only 7% said this was their ick.
Hotmail email
One of the OGs of the internet, having a Hotmail email address, means that you’ve been around for a long time. Microsoft actively encouraged users to switch to Outlook in 2012; if you’ve not done that 11 years later, no wonder it’s a digital ick. But only 5% of people said they cringe over @hotmail.
Typing on your phone with your index finger
Maybe this is something for the older generations, but most people now will use their thumbs to type out tweets and WhatsApp messages. But 5% of people surveyed said they’d be put off by someone slowly typing with a single finger, even on a touchscreen.
Facebook check-ins
Who remembers “checking in” to your favourite restaurant or newest holiday destination? Well, users in 2023 seem to have a much lower tolerance for location updates than they once had. A handful, 1% of people, voted for Facebook check-ins as their biggest digital ick. Unfortunately, no one nowadays wants to know which specific airport you’re jetting off from, or to, for that matter.
