Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook may have revolutionized the way we communicate but have also messed up our real life, a new study claims.

As revealed by the study of the Technology Policy Institute in Washington, with every hour spent on browsing the Internet, a user “loses” about 16 minutes from work.

The navigation in the “ocean” of websites seemed to also affect the sleep and social life of users, since with each hour in the online world, the user lacks seven precious minutes of sleep and 17 minutes of going out in the outside world. This corresponds to approximately 18 whole days away from friends and families a year.

When we are online, we miss on real life

The study entitled «What we do when we are online» is based on eight years of tracking daily online habits of U.S. users during the period 2003-2011.

According to the lead investigator and economist Scott Wallsten, every minute spent online corresponds to 0.27 minutes less devoted to work, 0.28 minutes less television, 0.12 minutes less sleep, and 0.05 minutes less socializing with friends.

The top online activity with the highest “demand” is using social media with 22.5 %, followed by online gaming with 9.8%, sending e-mails with 7.6%, visiting portals with 4 5%, watching movies, and online videos with 4.4% and web search with 4%.

Indeed, in the Internet users aged 15-19 years, surfing reaches an average of seven hours a day.

“This study is a small step towards understanding the economic impact of the use of the Internet. The obtained findings show that the time the general population dedicates to the Internet and online entertainment is constantly growing.

Our analysis reveals that the new trend for online activities robs valuable time of activities in real life,” says the expert.

Do you think that the Internet takes your real life away or, on the contrary, makes it more full and interesting giving you more opportunities for leisure and work? Please share your thoughts below!


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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Fuggy

    It’s 2018 n I lost my mom two years back. I have two sister I m the youngest. I have a dream I lost my eldest sis then Me n my Sis ask God to give us last chance to spend time with our family. Then we went back seven years back .my dream was a bit horor . me n my Sis took a photo to our seven years back mom n eldest sis n everything disappear….i was a harsh dream I dreamed around 3:30 in the afternoon .

  2. Annelise Renee Gingerich

    Yes, The SOCIAL (Social?!?!) Use Of The NET, Has REDUCED AND REPLACED MANY Areas (If Not ALL) Of OUR Lives, It Kind Of Has. But: WE’RE ADDICTED To THE COMPUTER NOW LOL! TOO Late TOO Little……

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