Survey: Messaging wrong person tops ‘Phone Faux Pas’
April 9, 2025
Research from Sky Mobile has lifted the lid on the most cringe-worthy mobile moments for Brits. From social media slip-ups to the classic pocket dial, the research reveals the top 15 mobile mishaps people are most guilty of committing.
The survey of 2,000 Brits uncovered that sending a text to the wrong person, pocket dials and typos are among the most common ‘phone faux pas’.
Nearly 1 in 5 (16 per cent) have been caught red-handed (or red-faced) by accidentally liking an ex’s old social media post, while sending a message in the wrong group chat has left over one in ten of us (11 per cent) cringing.
The top 15 phone faux pas according to Brits from Sky Mobile:
- Sending a text to the wrong person – 61%
- Making an unintentional phone call (pocket dial) -34%
- Accidental typos (for ducks sake!) – 29%
- Dropping your phone in public – 24%
- Reading a WhatsApp message too quickly – 18%
- Forgetting to put your phone on silent during a meeting or event – 17%
- Accidentally liking an ex’s old social media post – 16%
- Accidentally liking a social media post from years ago – 12%
- Having bad phone signal on an important call – 12%
The research also revealed how embarrassed phone faux pas can make Brits feel, with the ‘supposedly’ tech-savvy Gen Z (aged 18-24) being the most distressed when making a mistake online (74 per cent). In fact, the nation is left so on edge by mishaps with their devices that 2.2 million Brits have even considered deleting social media completely after making an accidental slip-up.
Other methods for trying to fix phone faux pas include Googling how to delete posts and messages (16 per cent), adjusting privacy settings (20 per cent) and blaming it all on a family member or friend playing a prank (8 per cent).
From going on ‘do not disturb ‘to avoid notifications (23 per cent), to waiting 10 minutes before responding to messages due to fearing judgement for speedy replies (22 per cent), people are adopting various tactics to avoid being caught out in phone faux pas.
Ben Case, Managing Director of Connectivity at Sky, commented: “Phone mishaps can get the best of us and whilst we can’t prevent those embarrassing text typos, at Sky Mobile we believe there’s no need to suffer with a bad phone plan. With 99 per cent network coverage and flexible data plans, you’ll remain connected for those all-important moments.”
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