The majority of adult social networking service users in America find the overall climate to be a very positive one - despite almost half (49%) saying they have witnessed mean or cruel behaviour at least occasionally, a survey reveals.
The study by the Pew Research Centre's Internet and American Life Project, titled: “The Tone of Life on Social Networking Sites”, is based on data from telephone interviews conducted in the second half of last year, among a sample of 2 260 adults.
The Pew Institute says the survey was conducted specifically to compare adult experiences on social networking sites (SNS) to those of teenagers. The institute had conducted similar research last year, which focused on teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17.
The Pew Institute says: “Adults are generally more positive and less negative than teens about the behaviour of others and their own experiences on social networking sites. As a rule, more adults than teens reported positive results on SNS.”
The difference in SNS experiences between adults and teens has been said to be attributed to the fact that adult networks are sparser and more far-flung than those of teenagers.
According to the new survey, 85% of SNS-using adults say their experiences are mostly kind (compared to 69% of teenagers). A further 68% said they had an experience on an SNS that made them feel good about themselves, and 61% had felt closer to another person via an SNS.
Facebook fistfights
It's not all sunshine and rainbows on social networks though, and a quarter of all adult respondents said they have experienced negative outcomes from their SNS experiences.
“Overall, the two surveys show that 41% of SNS-using teens have had at least one of the bad experiences we queried, compared with 26% of the SNS-using adults,” says the Pew Institute.
Eighty-eight percent of teenagers witnessed others being mean and cruel on an SNS, and 41% reported negative outcomes from their use of the site (it is worth noting, however, that 78% also reported at least one positive outcome).
The adult survey showed that 15% of respondents had an experience on a site that ended their friendship with someone, while 12% had an experience that led to a face-to-face argument or confrontation. Eleven percent experienced problems with family, and 3% even ended up in a physical fight with someone based on an experience on an SNS.
Read the full report with more detailed demographic breakdowns.
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