By Ruth Bloomfield Last updated at 12:51 AM on 02nd May 2009
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="233" caption="Alone: Users of Facebook, Bebo and other social networking sites admit to becoming more insular, despite having online 'friends'"]
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Social networking websites are turning us into a nation of introverts, according to a survey. More than half of adults who use sites including Facebook, Bebo and YouTube admit they spend more time online than with real friends and family.
They also talk less on the phone, watch less TV, play fewer computer games and send fewer texts and emails. In the largest survey of its kind carried out in the UK, some 53 per cent of the 1,600 adults questioned admitted social networking sites had changed their lives.
'The UK has undoubtedly become a nation of Facebook addicts,' said a spokesman for market research company Mintel, which commissioned the report. The survey also found that social networking is more popular in the UK than virtually anywhere else in the world. Half of all British internet users are members of a social site, compared to just 27 per cent in France, 33 per cent in Japan and 40 per cent in the U.S. And Mintel predicts the economic crisis will only increase their popularity.
'Hard up consumers spend increasing amounts of time online,' said the spokesman.
Its report also found that one in five social networkers say they are ' constantly' checking for new messages, and one in ten admit they have added someone they don't even know as an online friend. David Smallwood, an addictions expert from The Priory clinic in London, described the findings as 'very worrying'.
'I think that it will isolate people more and more,' he said. 'It is real 1984 stuff, where nobody talks to each other.' Mr Smallwood added: 'The way society is at the moment you already feel you have to be cautious with people. 'The social networking sites will only make these feelings worse. We will have less social skills and will connect with each other less and less.'
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="233" caption="Alone: Users of Facebook, Bebo and other social networking sites admit to becoming more insular, despite having online 'friends'"]
[/caption]Social networking websites are turning us into a nation of introverts, according to a survey. More than half of adults who use sites including Facebook, Bebo and YouTube admit they spend more time online than with real friends and family.
They also talk less on the phone, watch less TV, play fewer computer games and send fewer texts and emails. In the largest survey of its kind carried out in the UK, some 53 per cent of the 1,600 adults questioned admitted social networking sites had changed their lives.
'The UK has undoubtedly become a nation of Facebook addicts,' said a spokesman for market research company Mintel, which commissioned the report. The survey also found that social networking is more popular in the UK than virtually anywhere else in the world. Half of all British internet users are members of a social site, compared to just 27 per cent in France, 33 per cent in Japan and 40 per cent in the U.S. And Mintel predicts the economic crisis will only increase their popularity.
'Hard up consumers spend increasing amounts of time online,' said the spokesman.
Its report also found that one in five social networkers say they are ' constantly' checking for new messages, and one in ten admit they have added someone they don't even know as an online friend. David Smallwood, an addictions expert from The Priory clinic in London, described the findings as 'very worrying'.
'I think that it will isolate people more and more,' he said. 'It is real 1984 stuff, where nobody talks to each other.' Mr Smallwood added: 'The way society is at the moment you already feel you have to be cautious with people. 'The social networking sites will only make these feelings worse. We will have less social skills and will connect with each other less and less.'
Di milis ibu2 lagi rame banget nih. Cinta segiempat antara istri, suami, blackberry dan facebook...ck ck ck....
ReplyDeleteHa.ha.ha. gelowww... cinta segi empat... ha.ha.ha. ada2 aja Cha
ReplyDeletehehe....
ReplyDeleteini emang pisau bermata 2. yang menjadikan cinta segi 4. wkwkwkwk....
di satu sisi, situs2 ini mendekatkan kita pada orang2 yang jauh di ujung dunia sono yang jarang kita temui. tapi di sisi yang lain (jika kebablasan), malah menjauhkan kita dari orang2 terdekat kita.
disinilah perlunya keseimbangan antara hidup di dunia real dan di dunia maya. hehe...
wakakak, dulu fs sekarang fb.. tapi kalo lama2 jg bosen lagi koq tenang aja.. hehe..
ReplyDeletemmmm, jadi ide bisnis nech...
ReplyDeleteseheboh2nya fasilitas jejaring di dunia maya, toh sekali-kali perlu ngadain kopi darat.
makaynya mending juga bikin cafe or tempat hangout yang nyaman.... ada yang punya list tempat2 yang sering dikunjungi? berikut opini juga gapapa..