Surfing the net is an obsession for many Americans with one in three US adults giving up friends and sex for the web, according to new research.
A survey asked 1,011 American adults how long they could last with going on the web, to which 15% say just a day or less, 21% lasting only a couple of days and another 19% holding out for a few days.
Only a fifth of those who took part in the online survey, which was conducted by advertising agency JWT, believe they can go for a week.
Startlingly, a quarter of respondents admit spending less time socialising with friends because of the amount of time they spend online, while a fifth spend less time having sex because of their internet habits.
“People told us how anxious, isolated and bored they felt when they are forced offline,” says Ann Mack, director of trend spotting at JWT, which is looking at how technology is changing people’s behavior. “They felt disconnected from the world, from their friends and family.”
Mack says that the survey reveals an increasing need for mobile access through devices such as iPhones and Blackberrys, with people no longer satisfied with just broadband access from home.
“We are calling them ‘digitivity denizens’, those who see their cell phones as an extension of themselves, whose online and offline lives are co-mingled and who would chose a Wi-Fi connection over TV any day,” says Mack. “This is how they communicate, entertain and live.”
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