Do Social Networking Sites Produce Introverts?

Pulse

oi-Staff

By Staff

Monday, May 11, 2009, 16:06

Social networking sites might be a great way to meet your old friends and to make new ones. However they are also making a bunch of introverts on the other side.

Over 50 pct of the adults revealed that they spend more time chatting online than they do actually speaking to friends and family. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace is an addiction for them like any online video games.

After the birth of social networking sites, people are making fewer phone calls, sending fewer texts and emails, watching less television and spending less time on computer games. Half of British internet surfers have signed up to at least one social networking site, compared to 27 per cent in France, 33 per cent in Japan, and 40 per cent in the US.

The recession is likely to boost the popularity of social networking sites, as people would use them to stay in touch. One in five people who use the sites are "constantly checking" for new messages and updates. Moreover, one in 10 admitted that they had added a person as a "friend" on a site, without ever knowing them in real life.