Data Dinosaurs? Fewer Americans Use Phone Books in the Digital Age

If you’re like most Creve Coeur residents, you find new telephone books on your doorstep a couple of times a year—and, if you’re like nearly 80 percent of Americans, you might never actually use them.

Who uses the phone book?

Missouri lawmakers approved AT&T’s plan to stop delivering the white pages to St. Louis-area residents back in 2009, according to the St. Louis Business Journal, though the Yellow Pages are still dropped on doorsteps across the state. 

There seems to be a generational divide when it comes to people who actually use phone books.

406 Strategies reports that, although a study commissioned by the ADP indicates otherwise, there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence toward the decline of the usage of the Yellow Pages.

“The younger demographics seem to almost 100% ignore them, while the older demographics still use them to some extent,” states the 406 Strategies report. 

In 2009, DataFlurry.com blogger Joel McLaughlin conducted his own study on phone book usage. He asked ten friends and family members who weren’t especially tech savvy, including an 80-year-old, how often they had used the phone book in the previous year.

“The answer would be an excellent golf score,” McLaughlin wrote. “The phone book was used two times (total) by all 10 individuals in an entire year."

Quick facts on phone book usage

• In 2007, Microsoft founder Bill Gates predicted that within five years, Yellow Page usage among people under the age of fifty would drop to nearly zero. The same year, the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP) adopted Industry Environmental Guidelines which asked its members to be more environmentally responsible in their day-to-day business practices.
• Some cities have even made it illegal to deliver phone books without permission. For example, ABC reported in May 2011 that San Francisco had instituted such a law, which is due to take effect his year. Seattle created an ordinance in 2010 that created a registry to allow residents to opt out of receiving phone books. Publishers challenged the ordinance, a federal judge upheld it.
• A USA Today report points out a survey found that between 2005 and 2008, the percentage of households that used white pages directories fell from 25 percent to 11 percent.
• A Yelp study found that 75 percent of respondents never use the phone book to find a local business, and an additional 14 percent said they use it once a month or less. Eight percent said they use it between two and four times a month, and only three percent said they used it five or more times in a month.

Some people still love their phone books

Marathon Pundit blogger John Ruberry calls the idea of banning phone books “monumentally stupid,” pointing out that the Yellow Pages are profit driven.

“But environmentalists seem to care little about a balance sheet containing good news, as we've learned in the attacks by greenies against fossil fuels,” Ruberry wrote in December. “Many people--not all of them seniors--still prefer to page through printed material.”

A Big Government report, referring to the study commissioned by ADP, says that Baby Boomers use the Yellow Pages at a “staggering rate,” with nearly 85 percent picking up a phone book over the past year to search for information. And, the report says, 66 percent of Gen Y users used the Yellow Pages in the previous year—though the report does not specify whether it was the paper or online version.

Taking action

• If you want to stop receiving phone books, visit YellowPagesOptOut.com and register to opt-out. The process takes just a moment, and you can choose which books, if any, you still want to receive.
• Recycle existing phone books. Though only 22 percent of all printed phone books are actually recycled, according to BanthePhoneBook.org, recycled phone books can be used to make everything from cereal boxes to coffee cups to ceiling tiles, The Daily Green reports. Check out these tips for recycling an reusing phone books from Earth911.
• Get creative and reuse your phone books by using them to make child booster seats, paper mâché art projects, packing filler or wrapping paper.

When was the last time you used a phone book to find information? Share your thoughts in the comments section, below.