Facebook and Social Connections. What if Facebook was ever switched off ?

Written by Diggy on December 6th, 2010

An Australian study shows how Facebook and other forms of online social networking are now ingrained and how friendship have come to depend on it. Those who opt out completely were now a rare breed, the poll revealed with only 3 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 30 not having a Facebook profile or equivalent.

Among the respondents aged up to 80 years, the percentage of those who shunned all forms of online social networking was still less than 15 percent.
“It is really ingrained in our society now,” Australian Psychological Society researcher Rebecca Mathews said.

“It is a major change in the way we communicate; I guess the telephone being invented was another major one that is comparable.”

Dr Mathews polled more than 1800 people and found overall, that 86 per cent were using online social networking-the vast majority using Face Book but also websites like Twitter and RSVP – and for many its now part of their everyday routine.

A majority of (53 per cent) of the respondents said the site gave them more regular contact with friends and family, while 79 per cent said it fostered closer ties with those living far away.

A bout a qarter ( 26 per cent ) said they went out more and had face to face contact as a result of online social networking.

Half (52 per cent) of users aged 18 to 30 said they would “lose contact with many of their friends if they stopped”, which raises the hypothetical question of what if Face book was ever switched off ?

77 per cent of users check their profile everyday

81 per cent of those aged 31 to 50 and 64 per cent of those over 50 use online social networking

21 per cent of those aged 31 to 50 admitted to forming an intimate relationship with someone they met online

Facebook users aged under 30 had an average 263 friends while those aged 31 to 50 had 206 friends and those aged over 50 had 92 friends.

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