Social Media May Be Making Us Less Sociable, But One Age Group is Bucking the Trend
You could argue that social media is somewhat ironically
named, at least in the eyes of many industry experts. This assertion is made
off the back of newly released figures from the Office for National Statistics
which show that among all age groups but one, the advent of social media is in
fact associated with a downturn in active socialisation.
Unsurprisingly the one group not to follow this trend is
millennials, or more specifically older millennials aged 26-36. Among this
group the amount of time spent going out for meals, going to the theatre and/or
cinema, and playing sports has risen from 35.5% in 2000 to 36.5% in 2015; among
all other groups this figure has dropped.
Among those aged 46-55 for example this figure has fallen
from 32.6% in 2000 to 30.3% in 2015. In fact the average time spent socialising
has dropped by 12.7% among all groups, and now amounts to just six hours per
week.
An ONS spokesperson explained, “It’s possible that with
increased device use, people are becoming less likely to go out of their way to
meet up and socialise. Easy internet access enables people to talk to friends
via social media apps, but they’re still doing so alone.”
However according to Dr Rebecca Graber, a senior lecturer in
psychology at Brighton University, the problem may lie not with the apps and
services themselves but with how they are used; an endeavour which she asserts
older millennials are simply more adept at.
“The figures are compared to 2000, and back then device
usage was much more one-way and now it’s much more interactive,” said Dr
Graber, “Not only that but apps are designed to get you socialising in some way
- so whether that’s meeting up over Tinder or fitness apps that
encourage you to keep track of your accomplishments with other people or meet
up with people for park run, that kind of thing.
“A lot of apps that older millennials are using now are
really geared towards embedding that within your social life,” she continued, “At
this age they're investing in relationships and in identity-building activities
and experiences which allow you to explore what’s out in the world and try new
things.”
Sam
is an aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers.
Currently working as Editor of Social Songbird, he hopes to one day drop that
'aspiring' prefix. Follow him @Songbird_Sam
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Social Media May Be Making Us Less Sociable, But One Age Group is Bucking the Trend
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Rating:
Unknown
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