It's the age of digital and social bacteria.

While doing research for some clients on digital consumption habits and reading the Comscore report Digital Omnivores: How Tablets, Smartphones and Connected Devices are Changing US Digital Media - an excellent report that you can download for free from Comscore - I came across some interesting facts.

For example, almost 500 million smartphone units shipped in 2011 - so what is significant about that? Well aside from the growth, it was the tactile element of the touchscreen that really intrigued me on many levels.

Human beings are extremely socialable and tactile, using all our senses at our disposal to interact with the environment and our surroundings, namely tablets, iPads, smartphones. To my surprise, while researching for a client, I discovered that medical reports have now highlighted that touchscreens are crawling with viruses and bacteria owing to the warm environment of the screen. In fact, a recent study in the UK concluded that mobile phones carry 18 times more bacteria than a flush handle in a men’s room…

So next time you are out shopping to buy a new device or are sharing your device with your friends, think social bacteria and think digital hygiene and swab the device down with appropriate sanitation technology.