New research has found that the average user of social networking sites has almost double the number of friends online when compared to real ones.
According to research commissioned by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the comfort with which users can connect to their friends is a prime reason for the findings, along with the fact that most users find it easier to disclose things they cannot do in real life.
The study found that the average user of social networking sites has 121 friends online when compared to 55 physical ones.
Four-in-five of the users have never met many online friends, but they claim to bond with them as strongly as with their ‘physical’ pals.
One-in-nine said they had either met their best friend online or expect to meet one in the future.
Two-thirds said that online friendships were better because of the ‘ease’ with which they are conducted. Others said they like online friendships because they can be confident and honest with online friends.
