virtual vanity
The research, which examined the social media habits of 18-25 year olds, reveals the nation’s most obsessed Facebook users, those who log on over 20 times a day, spend a daily average of eight hours on the social networking site – the equivalent of a full working day.
While the majority of young Facebook users spend far less time obsessing over their profiles – the average 18-25 year old spends 1hr 20 minutes on the site each day – huge numbers of youngsters admitted to worrying about their ‘online appearance’.
Over a third of young adults admits to worrying about being tagged in unflattering photos. Girls seems to be the most affected, with almost half claiming that friends seeing dodgy photos of them on Facebook is one of their major worries in life.
Over a quarter admit to feeling unpopular when scrolling through posts of nights out they were not invited to, and one in five go as far as to exaggerating their status updates to make their lives appear more exciting.
Social media pressure clearly has a big impact on shopping habits, with almost a quarter of youngsters regularly splashing out on new clothes to avoid being tagged in the same outfit twice.
Duncan Jennings, co-founder of VoucherCodes.co.uk says: “Facebook is an integral part of young people’s lives but it’s putting pressure on them to fit in and look the part, which is especially challenging for groups likes cash-strapped students.
"This generation of youngsters has grown up with social networking and it’s interesting to see the impact it’s having on way they shop," he adds.
FemaleFirst @FemaleFirst_UK
Shabana Adam