Do young people spend to much time on the net?
 

A recent survey in Sweden shows that young people spend more time on internet and social media then to meet friends in real life.
The survey is based on interviews with 2000 children between 9 and 16 years and 2000 parents.

Only two years ago the most common activity was to meet friends IRL, now this activity end up on third place after internet and TV.

Most of these young peple think it is as good to meet on internet as IRL. Older people think the later is better.

One can also notice that girls spend more time chatting, blogging and similar while boys spend more time with games.
Many of the youth spend about 3- 5 hours, or more every evening in front of a computer, or sometimes a TV.

So what is your take on this? Can internet, TV, games, movies ever replace IRL social life and association? Is it healthy to just sit in front of a screen instead of meeting people and do things IRL?

Well, considering my chosen profession is almost completely based on being on a PC most of the day... Yeah. It works.

Well I wouldn't say it's un-healthy to sit in front of a computer or TV for a few hours everyday. I'm not saying it's healthy but it's not as bad as people think. And I don't think having friends who you met on the net is a bad thing either. It might BECOME one if it completely replaces seeing friends face to face (I think).

I don't think watching TV fits into ths topic the as much though because it's not like people watch TV to interact with friends or something.

IRL for sure...you can't compare internet socializing with RL socializing, or RL anything for that matter. On top of being bad for your eyes, the internet is an addictive substitution for real life, and a form of escapism. Studies have come out comparing socializing on the internet and socializing in real life, and one major example of the difference is the need for the use of emoticons. IRL, people have brain devices that pick up facial expressions, etc... that you can't pick up from reading text. Even with newer technologies like skype, etc... it's still not the same.

To answer your question directly, no, it is absolutely not healthy to replace RL experiences with the internet, and this has been proven time and time again. I mean seriously, next time you go out, look around and look at all the people going through life staring at a phone screen text messaging...this isn't the same as the internet, but it's definitely comparable. I mean I do my fair share of texting, but I'm not staring at my phone AND WALKING ACROSS A CROWDED CITY STREET!! The integration of technology into socializing has certainly had some positive effects, but the negative effects are scary. I'm a little scared to see where our generation takes this in the future.

But I cant do the eyebrow thing irl...


^___-

^This.

Hmm... maybe. I fall in that age group, and I spend around five hours a day on my PC. I don't think this is a bad thing, but there are people that take it a bit too far. Texting/tweeting/facebooking while driving, for example, is really dangerous. Not only that, the vast majority of people I know at school would have withdrawal symptoms if they were parted from their precious phones for more than ten minutes. That's taking it too far. I still spend more time "in the real world" than I do on the internet, even if I do spend a lot of time on the PC.

Also, something I noticed is that they separated making friends and the internet into different categories. After all, I've made more (and more real) friends on the internet than I ever have in real life, and I'm not even a member of a social networking site. (I do have a twitter, but I use it solely to send me an "Oh, sh*t!" text if something goes wrong with my server.)

Well ****, that changes everything. Jk lol.

Yes, people I know text while they drive WHILE I'M IN THE CAR! I'm like buddy, I'd like to live through today, not die on account of your DUMB ass. I agree though, PC and social networking in moderation is fine, just like anything in moderation is fine.

^^^^ Same haha. I have a business on Etsy and I take online schooling. The internet is my best friend <3

And for the record I don't even own a cell phone XD

80% of my work is in front of a PC screen, 10% at meetings/conferences etc, 10% out in the open air collecting samples and performing tests. I'd like to spend more time away from the PC.

Can't help but ponder, couldn't ToS be considered a "social networking site."

I spend quite a bit of time on the internet for class work (a lot of professors post rubrics, additional lecture materials, etc online), gaming, and ToS :P.

As others have stated above, so long as its in moderation, its fine.

I mostly only use social networking sites to promote and keep in touch with my buyers who are in other states or over seas. Same with Blogger and Tumblr.

But I do have a FB to keep in touch with friends from High School. We all live busy college lives and can't always see eachother in person :rolleyes:

Not quite the same topic but I just feel like adressing it after reading some responses.

Am I the only one who doesn't like to use the term "IRL"? When you say In Real Life it makes it seem like the net ISN'T real life. Like it's fake life or something. I have met some really cool people on the net, and I don't like to think of that as not Real Life. I feel like even though it's not all in person, it's still real life.

I know people aren't really implying that it's all fake when they say "IRL" but I can't help but think about it though.

I spend most of my day on the web and texting my friends. But I live in a place where there isnt **** to do so. I also dont fit in here, Im a city person.

I guess you could call me a city person too. I'd like to live in ultra-high density housing because there's not much stuff I really need, so less stuff means less space needed. Imagine if everyone lived in 100 story skyscrapers. There would be untouched nature where urban sprawl is today. Because of this, everyone that lived in the city would be within walking distance of nature. I've gone rambling... :shoop:

:D I said that almost word for word when I was riding home from school with someone. He was attempting to tap out a text on an iPhone while going down the turnpike at 60 MPH. I had to resist the overwhelming urge to grab the d*mn phone and chuck it out the window.

I've never really thought of it like that. I use IRL to differentiate between stuff on the internet and stuff that happened to me... not on the internet. I don't intend to say that anything is fake on the internet; it's just a quick term that I use to convey the context that, "This happened to me while AFK." In fact, you all are more real to me as friends than anyone I've met personally.:)