Social Media: Better than Sex?

Filed in archive Social Media on March 25, 2010

I just had to share this survey that happened to pass through my email box this week. Apparently Retrevo surveyed a thousand people, asking them about their social media usage. And some of the answers struck me as amusing.

Apparently seven percent of the people surveyed said that if it was physically possible, they would check their social media services during sex. While this may sound less than feasible, or maybe like people are joking, there is precedent for the sex vs. internet questions. Another survey was done by Harris Interactive in 2008, asking which you would rather go without for two weeks: sex or the internet. (I would like to point out this question would be nearly impossible for me to answer, because I couldn't earn any income without internet access, which would certainly put a damper on my sex drive.)

The more realistic question in this survey asked how many people would check their social media in the middle of the night. This question makes more sense, first because its physically possible, and second because many people do check their phone in the middle of the night. In fact I recently saw a survey on Facebook asking a similar question. On Facebook I'm friends with lots of young teenagers because I volunteer with the youth group at my church. Any of the girls I'm friends with took this quiz admitting that they check their phone when they wake up in the middle of the night and first thing when they wake up. The facebook quiz wasn't a scientific study but I think it shows how dependent our younger generations are on social technology.

It should be interesting to see what will happen to these Gen Y kids when they have to use technology for work, not just for social connections. And if they decide it's better than boys.

Take part in the poll!