There’s no question that 2011 was a watershed year for mobile use of the Internet. Smartphone use exploded, the market adoption of tablets in the US jumped from 10% to 19% in December, and our own research at Geonetric indicates that mobile traffic on hospital websites more than doubled over the course of the year.

Behind the trend are scores of new devices that rolled out over the course of the year at lower price points while sporting better bandwidth and larger, sharper screens. Millions now carry and use powerful internet-connected devices 24×7.

All of this has changed when and how we use the internet. New research from integrated marketing agency 11Mark backs up this change with some startling, some say disturbing, statistics.

75% of Americans report having used their smartphone in the bathroom. Most of you reading this probably fall in to this group, so this shouldn’t surprise us.  24% of people indicate they don’t go to the bathroom without their smartphones.

And they’re not just hogging the stall playing Angry Birds. Survey respondents indicated texting, emailing, social networking and even participating in business calls while in the loo.

Online purchasing is a growing trend as well, led by iphone users, traditionally known as “early movers,” 22% of which have made such a purchase.

The trend defies age and gender boundaries, although usage by Boomers and the Silent Generation, both old enough to have learned the benefit of a little extra fiber in one’s diet, is less common than their younger counterparts.

What does this trickle of new information mean to hospital marketers? I’m picturing a new mobile ad campaign for colonoscopies…