Urban youths bored of social media: Survey

More than 50% of respondents across metro cities said they have reduced the time spent on social media sites and are no longer enthusiastic about it

More than 50% of respondents across metro cities said they have reduced the time spent on social media sites and are no longer enthusiastic about it

According to a study conducted by a Commerce Chamber, youngsters in urban India are gradually moving away from social networking sites due to fatigue and health reasons.


Not so hot: The respondents said they have moved on to other chat
channels and apps to keep in touch with friends. Representation pic

The survey by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India said, "About 55% of all the respondents (about 2,000 boys and girls in the 12-25 age group in urban centres of Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, among other cities) claimed they have consciously reduced the time spent on social media websites and are no longer as active and enthusiastic about their favourite social networks as when they had signed up," said the survey.

"Nearly 30% said they have deactivated or deleted their accounts and profiles from these websites and it is no longer a craze among them," it added.

Of nearly 200 people interviewed in Delhi, about 60% said their fascination with social networking has been gradually fading.

"The youth is now finding it boring to see constant and senseless status updates, and the same routine over and over again has significantly reduced the time dedicated to the social media," said the survey.

About 75% of the total sample said that while they had made an account on almost every website when it was launched, a majority of them were barely using these any more and were active on a single site.

The survey further said that about 20% of the respondents preferred chat applications like Blackberry Messenger, WhatsApp and Google Talk to stay in touch with friends.

The respondents admitted that compulsive social networking was taking a toll on their mental and physical health and even their professional and personal lives. "Many complain of insomnia, depression, poor inter-personal relationships, lack of concentration and high level of anxiety as they tend to replace real-life social interactions with online social media," said the survey.