… The study found that social media users tend to have one-sided relationships to avoid the reality of restrictions. In the face of physical distancing and the severe limitations associated with Covid-19, one-sided relationships, commonly referred to as parasocial relationships, are flourishing and flourishing around the world. According to a survey of more than 15,000 people by security company Kaspersky in 25 countries around the world, almost half (47%) of social media users believe that the opinion leaders they follow allow them to escape reality. More than a fifth (21%) believe that they could be friends with the opinion leaders they follow, and about the same proportion (22%) have sent a private message to the opinion leaders.While the relationship is mostly virtual, more than a third (34%) of social media users have actually even met with some opinion leaders to follow, and in the US this share reaches 57%.
At a time of great restraint around the world, many of us have stayed at home for a long time and turned to virtual companions to replace lost public life. This type of one-sided relationship strongly affects many. Nearly three-quarters (71%) say they learn from opinion leaders or influencers, followed by, for example, information on health, hobbies and style issues, as well as news. Nearly a quarter (23%) say they depend on the content created by opinion leaders, and a tenth (10%) even say they feel a lack if they do not engage with opinion leaders.
Many have tried to communicate directly with Internet opinion leaders, usually by commenting on their posts (37%) or responding to their posts or stories (37%).
During the pandemic, social media was important to many, and almost three-fifths (59%) worldwide report that social media has provided an extremely important link during a pandemic. This share was highest among young people aged 18-34 (71%), who are dependent on social media for communication. People in Vietnam (94%) and South Africa (79%) generally say that social media is an extremely important link for them, while a third of people around the world (33%) say they have become more intolerant of others on social media during a pandemic.
David Emms, Kaspersky’s chief security researcher, said: “Although more than half (56%) of respondents have been actively using social media for more than ten years, many of us still do not understand how to balance the positive and negative in them.
We are now entering a new era when virtual relationships are becoming the norm. These one-sided relationships can often lead to excessive disclosure of information on social media, as people tend to develop these relationships. However, it can have a huge number of negative and unintended consequences: hacking and phishing attempts, boxing and mockery, shame on the Internet and so on. Given the severe constraints we have all experienced recently, it is understandable that people will seek online and parasocial relationships to ward off loneliness and boredom, but it is very important to be aware of the consequences of over-disclosure and to be able to take a more balanced approach. “
Another Kaspersky study found that:
Two thirds (63%) of adults worldwide remember news about the negative impact of social media on data confidentiality, and almost four-fifths (78%) of those who remember such news say they have influenced the way they use social media.
slightly more than a third (38%) know someone whose personal data has been leaked, but in the 18-34 age group this share exceeds half (52%) of the respondents;
Overall, two-fifths (41%) of adults worldwide consider social media to have a positive impact on society and politics, and more than double the number of people who believe that social media has a negative impact (19%);
When using social media, people tend to feel entertained (56%), included (36%), happy (26%) and inspired (23%).
Kaspersky has created „ShareAware Hub”, where you can find useful tips on how to use social media safely.
In order to identify itself and possibly better understand its social media habits, Kaspersky has defined five types of social media people:
Intelligent communicators, which limits online time to a minimum.
Stormy publishers, which publishes productively in relatively short periods of activity.
Excessive distributors, which actually lives on the Internet and is published continuously.
Glutes, who may spend a lot of time on social media, but just wander, not comment.
Offline, who are either inactive or have not joined any social media or have deleted their accounts.
Fill out to find out what type of social media user you are online test.
The study data were collected by Opinium Research from 18 to 31 May 2021. Opinium collected information from 15,682 adults in 25 countries: the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Japan, Russia, Turkey, the United States, the Czech Republic, Hungary , South Africa, Austria, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia and the UAE.
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