General Article Social media updates ‘killing conversations’ between friends

Topic Selected: Relationships Book Volume: 354
This article is 5 years old. Click here to view the latest articles for this topic.

Majority of Britons say talking “in real life” no longer needed thanks to platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

By Paul Gallagher

Social media updates are killing conversations between friends with the majority of Britons saying they no longer need to talk face to face.

Some 51 per cent of the public say chatting to friends ‘in real life’ is unnecessary because they are kept up to date on what people are up to via platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

A poll of 5,000 adults across the UK by the mental health campaign group Time to Change also found the average person has 770 friends on social media, yet nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of us say we would not feel able to call upon any of those friends if we were struggling with our mental health.

While social media allows people to connect with those around them and can be a helpful source of support for the one in four who experience mental health problems in any given year, according to campaigners, the new...

Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?

Sign up now for an immediate no obligation FREE TRIAL and view the entire collection