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People's interest in virtual communication is falling

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
 
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09 July 2014, 12:15

Today, Internet users' interest in social networks has noticeably decreased, and more and more people prefer real-life communication. This is the conclusion reached by a company studying the online market.

The company's experts conducted a survey, during which more than half of users almost completely lost interest in online communication.

26% of respondents deleted their profiles from social networks because they were bothered by the fact that not only friends and acquaintances, but also complete strangers knew about their personal lives.

About 20% of those surveyed had a negative attitude towards strangers commenting on events in their lives. In addition, more than 21% were irritated by advertising on social networks.

Approximately 10% of survey participants deleted their Twitter accounts, 9% stopped using Facebook for communication. However, social networks continue to be very popular among young Internet users aged 8 to 15 (the survey was conducted among the age group of 15 years and older).

Research conducted in the field of virtual communication by another company that develops antivirus programs showed that more than 50% of the participants in the survey they conducted noted that after using social networks, their adequacy decreased, the rest of the respondents noted that their popularity increased. According to the survey, 42% of respondents said that virtual communication helped them become more active, while 58%, on the contrary, became lazy.

It is worth recalling that earlier studies conducted at one of the universities showed that isolating users from social networks significantly reduces self-esteem.

The experiment involved Twitter and Facebook users who were divided into different groups. In one group, users were banned from using the social network entirely, while in the other, they were banned from commenting.

As a result, it turned out that the impossibility of virtual communication (both full and limited) lowers a person’s self-esteem.

Researchers also noted that it is mainly mature people who stop using social networks. Another reason for abandoning virtual communication is the increasing frequency of family scandals. Scientists note that online communication distances previously close people from each other, in addition, a virtual acquaintance that has begun can develop into a very real adultery.

However, some experts note that people cannot completely abandon virtual communication; when leaving one virtual network, a person moves to a new one (for example, from Facebook to Twitter, from Twitter to Instagram, etc.). Over time, people have less and less to say to the world; they look for simpler ways of communication. At first, a few sentences, then just a picture.

Experts suggest that a complete rejection of virtual communication is impossible, since social networks cause the same psychological addiction as alcohol or drugs, and most people are unable to get rid of Internet addiction on their own.

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