By Zoya Gervis // SWNS
New York office - 646-873-7565 / usnews@swns.com
From Instagram followers to Facebook friends, Uber ratings or their credit rating, new research shows that millennials are obsessed with their scores.
The survey of 2,000 millennials (aged 23–38) found that 57 percent feel they spend too much time checking their online scores and ratings.
In fact, 19 percent go so far as to consider their habits of checking scores and ratings an obsession.
The research, which was conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Experian, explored millennials' attitudes and behaviors when it comes to scores in this age of comparison and competition.
Results also found that 44 percent of those studied reveal checking their scores and ratings is a fun hobby they casually enjoy.
However, when it comes to score or ratings importance, those surveyed say the most important “number” to increase happens to be their credit scores – with nearly three in five revealing credit scores are their top priority.
Turns out, 53 percent of those surveyed place more importance on proactively trying to increase their credit scores than growing their followers on social platforms such as Instagram or Twitter.
Nearly half (49 percent) of those studied believe a credit score affects their life the most – compared to social media rankings like Twitter (51 percent) and Instagram followers (48 percent).
As a result, 59 percent percent worry about their credit scores with more than half (52 percent) saying they’d be disappointed if their credit score went down.
"Proud scorekeeping millennials can often have low credit scores due to short credit histories, but there are steps they can take to better manage their scores,” said Rod Griffin, director of public education for Experian.
While some scores and ratings cause stress amongst millennials, high credit scores seem to generate excitement.
One in five say, in general, scores and ratings affect their reputation negatively. Of those, over half (55 percent) feel bad when their scores and ratings go down while a further 48 percent get anxiety knowing someone in their circle has a higher score than them.
A further 44 percent reveal they are guilty of focusing too much on increasing their scores and ratings to the detriment of other things.
However, 56 percent of those studied feel excited when they have a high credit score compared to having a high Yelp rating (49 percent) as well as a high number of YouTube followers (48 percent).
Griffin continued, “Ultimately, a good credit score has a greater lifelong impact than social media likes and followers, and putting emphasis on monitoring this score will set millennials up for a successful financial future.”
TOP 5 MOST IMPORTANT SCORES/RATINGS
Credit score 59%
Instagram followers 48%
Twitter followers 41%
Facebook friends 38%
Car sharing service rating 36%
TOP 5 SCORES/RATINGS MILLENNIALS PROACTIVELY TRY TO INCREASE
Credit score 53%
Instagram followers 46%
Twitter followers 41%
YouTube followers 39%
Facebook friends 33%
TOP 5 PLACES MILLENNIALS CHECK THEIR SCORES
In bed 42%
On the toilet 39%
Waiting in line 38%
On public transport 38%
Procrastinating at work 31%
