We label someone a “couch potato” if they spend too much time sitting on the couch watching TV. The boob tube consumes about half of America’s leisure time or nearly three hours per day.
But the amount of time people spend online and using computers is also increasing. Children spend an average of 89 minutes each day using a computer "for entertainment purposes," up from 62 minutes in 2004. Eighty percent of U.S. adults spend an average of 13 hours per week online, while 1 in 7 are online more for than 24 hours per week.
Marriam-Webster defines “mouse potato” as “a person who spends a great deal of time using a computer.” Although there is some debate about the future of the computer mouse — given the rise of non-mouse devices such as smartphones and tablets — “mouse potato” is a fitting term to describe our digital sloth selves.