May 10, 2012, 10:19 AM HKT
Asian Youths Go Overboard on Social Media
blogs.wsj.com
Young people in Singapore and China may need a break from all the time they’re spending online.
Associated Press Apple fans entertain themselves with iPads and iPhones while waiting in queue to purchase the iPad 3 in Singapore during its launch in March.
A recent survey of youths between the ages of 19 and 26 in Singapore, China and the U.S. by advertising agency JWT found that more than half find it too demanding to keep up with their activities on Facebook, Twitter and the like. Managing their commitments on the social networks – which were designed in part to ease communication between people – is now becoming a chore, according to the survey’s results.
In China, nearly two thirds of those surveyed said they felt pressure to be in constant contact with various social media sites – most notably Qzone, weibo (microblogs) and Ren Ren – with 58% saying that this obligation to social media is stressful. More than half said that this stress has increased from just a year ago.
The Chinese market is one of the most robust in the world for social media, and according to a survey by McKinsey released last month, 91% of Chinese respondents said they visited a social media site in the last six months.
Additionally, the JWT survey found that conversations on social media often permeate spill over into the real world, with 73% in Singapore and 81% in China saying it was important to keep up with social media activity since it is discussed in face-to-face conversations.
In Singapore, where smartphone penetration is the highest in the world at 55%, according to go-globe.com, young adults are most inclined to visit social networking sites when out and while waiting – as well as in the bedroom. One in ten people surveyed admitted to visiting a social networking site while being intimate with a partner, and 17% have used social networking while on a date. |
