In this digital age, Americans are able to quickly capture moments that matter most to them. With just a few taps on their smartphones, they can capture photos of special events, record videos of their adorable pets, or capture a stunning memory of the evening sunset.

It’s no wonder that they find themselves reaching for their phones to document every meaningful detail of their lives. Thanks to the convenience of technology, people can not only capture their precious memories but also hold onto them forever.

At Mixbook we believe that the photos people take tell a beautiful story, and we want to empower them to turn those photos into a tangible memory through photo goods. That’s why we were curious to know how many photos and videos Americans “phlush away” by never looking back at them or taking them out of their smartphone.

To learn more about the digital dust Americans accumulate, we surveyed 1,967 smartphone owners about the pictures and videos in their camera roll. Read on to find out more about the precious memories that are just taking space on Americans’ devices and what they do with images that do make it out in the world.

Key Takeaways

States who phlush away memories most are Indiana, California, and Mississippi.
A majority of people (80%) have pictures or videos on their phone that they haven't looked at since the day they took them.
The number of photos or videos they have on their phone overwhelms 55% of people.
People have on average 3,139 pictures and videos on their phone.
Half of the respondents say they do nothing with the photos and videos they take on their phone.

States That Phlush Away Memories Most

The moments you spend with your loved ones are truly priceless and deserve to be cherished for years to come. Sadly, all too often the precious moments, milestones, and life’s little joys get phlushed away on our phones.

A better approach to take with your memories, one that will make sure your memories stand the test of time, is to unleash your creativity and create a personalized photo book for your images. Despite the potential of creating something with high sentimental value, people all across America let the stories of their lives go untouched and forgotten. In fact, 80% of people have pictures or videos on their phones that they haven’t looked at since the day they took them.

While our phones make it easy to capture and store memories, they don’t necessarily encourage us to engage with them in a meaningful way. Across the nation, we found that the U.S. states most likely to phlush away their memories by never looking back on the pictures they take were Indiana, California, and Mississippi.

Technology can be unreliable, and you wouldn’t want to risk losing your precious moments forever. That’s why it’s important to transform your camera roll into physical photo goods like photo books, prints, or calendars.

Fortunately, the Mixbook mobile app now features a powerful machine learning technology that scans photo metadata and selects, labels and groups photos based on the story they tell. This simplifies photo curation and enables an easy photo book creation process, empowering customers to spend less time organizing their memories, and more time enjoying them.

When you create something tangible, you can look back on memories in a more meaningful way than just scrolling through your phone. So, don’t let your memories get lost in a digital dungeon. Invest time into turning them into something you can hold onto for a lifetime and something that generations to come will value.

The Memories That Makeup American's Camera Roll

It’s no secret that Americans love to take photos. In fact, the average American stores a whopping 3,139 pictures and videos in their phone camera roll.

With a large collection of memories stored on their devices, it’s no surprise that many people feel overwhelmed by the amount of content they own. Our respondents revealed that 55% have felt overwhelmed by the number of photos or videos they have on their phones.

To learn more about the photos Americans take, we asked respondents to tell us what most of the photos on their phones are about. We asked them to select one of nine categories: family, food, friends, information, kids, partner, pets, scenery, and themselves. Spoiler alert, the majority of Americans used their phones to take photos of their pets.

We were also curious about what photos dominated the camera roll of different demographics. We found that while most of the nation took photos of their pets (21%), parents had mainly photos of their kids (34%), and non-pet owners with no kids had mainly photos of scenery (26%) in their camera roll.

Duplicate photos of almost the same thing are also common, 63% of people say they take multiple pictures of the same thing and don’t narrow down and delete the rest.

50% of Americans do nothing with their photos and videos

Every photo is a moment frozen in time, a memory that you initially wanted to hold onto forever since you took the time to take it. This is why all photos are precious, even if you don’t always remember the specific details or reasons why you took them.

However, many people forget that importance and end up viewing a good chunk of their camera roll as unimportant In fact, 58% say that only 50% or less of the pictures and videos in their camera roll are so important and that they would be genuinely upset to lose them.

Curious about what Americans do with the images they do value, we found that, on average, Americans haven’t looked at 55% of their camera roll in the last year, and they only rarely look back on photos or videos taken a year ago or later.

Sharing the beauty of pictures and videos with family or friends can be a priceless gift. A great way to share them is through a customized Mixbook photo book. These memories can connect us with loved ones near and far and make them feel like they were with us during our special moments.

With such high value, we were shocked to find out that 50% of Americans reported doing nothing with the photos and videos they take on their phone, and 54% have seen none or very few of the pictures and videos outside the context of their phone.

Conclusion

Phones give you the ability to capture the memories that mean the most to you in a way like never before. These memories should be considered priceless family heirlooms that generations can look back on. That’s nearly impossible if the memories never make it out of your smartphone or worse, are forgotten about.

At Mixbook we’re passionate about empowering people to tell their stories through beautiful, personalized photo goods. If you’re not sure where to start, our intuitive editor with templates can help you create the project with ease.

Methodology

From May 2, 2023 to May 8, 2023, we surveyed 1,967 Americans about the photos and videos on their phone. We surveyed residents in all U.S. states except Rhode Island, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Delaware, Vermont, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska and Wyoming, due to insufficient data. Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 76 years old, and were 50% female, 48% male and 2% nonbinary.