--- title: Poll: 18% of Americans Skype or Facetime With Their Pets description: Even though 1 in 10 pet owners have had their technology destroyed by their animals canonical: https://time.com/2847901/pets-skype-facetime-dogs-cats/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-09T15:24:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:10:32.144Z og:title: People Keep Giving Their Pets Social Media Accounts Even Though They Destroy Technology og:description: Even though 1 in 10 pet owners have had their technology destroyed by their animals og:url: https://time.com/2847901/pets-skype-facetime-dogs-cats/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: People Keep Giving Their Pets Social Media Accounts Even Though They Destroy Technology twitter:description: Even though 1 in 10 pet owners have had their technology destroyed by their animals twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Poll: 18% of Americans Have Skyped Their Pets > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c2bf2d84-dd10-4b59-ae28-3296ea71d4bf&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jun 9, 2014 3:24 PM UTC  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jun 9, 2014 3:24 PM UTC It seems like pet owners didn’t get the memo that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. Because even though one in 10 pet owners have had their technology destroyed by pets, they still keep trying to teach animals how to Skype. A new survey from electronics warranty company SquareTrade has found that 10% of pet owners have had their devices destroyed by pets, mostly by knocking them down and breaking them, but also by peeing and vomiting, and that about a third of the destroyed devices were smartphones. Male dogs are 86% more likely to destroy technology than female dogs, and 19% of owners believe their pets destroyed their devices because they were angry at them for something. But even though most pet owners have found it difficult to train their non-human companions to use technology, they’re not giving up. 17% of pet owners have made a social media account for their pet, 25% have “friended” or “followed” a pet on social media, and 18% have attempted to use Skype or FaceTime with the animal that lives in their home. Moral of the story: you can give a dog a smartphone but you cannot make it Skype. 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