6 out of 10 Brits make friends online

 

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Posted on 2 Jan 2009 at 17:23

New research has found that 58 per cent of Brits meet face to face with people they first encounter online, and that a quarter of our friends are people we've never met in person.

The global TNS Digital World, Digital Life study surveyed 27,000 adults worldwide, including 2,500 Brits. It found that Brits have an average of 17 friends who we first met online.

The study also found that, of all the people UK surfers consider as friends, 25 per cent are 'online only friends' who they have never interacted with in the 'real' world. For 35 to 44 year olds, the average number of online only friends is as high as 33 per cent.

Our 'virtual friendships' also span the globe, with people we've never met hailing from places as diverse as Azerbaijan, Nepal and Christmas Island, being counted among our friends. However, the majority of our online friends abroad hail from English speaking countries, with 23 per cent of them living in the US, 17 per cent from Australia and 10 per cent of them are Canadian. However, despite such a large proportion of our friends being online, 37 per cent of Brits admit they cannot be sure of an online friend's identity.

And although social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo have surged in popularity, Brits still prefer to interact with our friends face to face, as email and online forums falling far behind meeting and phoning as the preferred way to communicate.

"What comes out in this survey is that we are actively engaging with people online, but we haven't lost the knack for conventional social contact," said Arno Hummerston, managing director at TNS Global Interactive. "At the same time, online acquaintances are now perceived by most of us as real acquaintances. This is underlined by the high percentages of people who, having first met people online, go on to meet them in person or at least by talking on the phone."

"But behind that is the sense of worry among our respondents who clearly express concern about the true online identity of these apparent friends."

The study was conducted across 16 countries to examine online behaviour and perspectives around the world. More than 27,000 participants aged 18 to 55 years old were interviewed online to see how much of their social life is conducted online.

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota