The average British 22 year-old has more than 1,000 online friends on sites like Facebook, compared to those in their fifties who have fewer than 20, according to a new study.
The 'Facebookgeneration gap' has been highlighted in a new piece of research which shows that the average 22 year-old claims to have 1,000 or more friends on sites like Facebook.
People in their twenties have more than 50 times as many digital friends as those who are over 50 years old, despite the popularity of sites like Facebook with the older generations, says a study conducted by consumerresearch group Intersperience.
The news comes during the same week Facebook's second-in command, Sheryl Sandberg, is visiting the UK to deliver a speech at the London School of Economics.
Facebook's chief operating officer is going to speak about how the social web has transformed people's friendships and relationships.
The survey found that there was a clear link between people's age and the number of online friends they have. The researchers found that those aged 13 to 16, have an average of 450 friends on social networks, with girls having slightly more friends that boys. People in their thirties tend to have between 100 and 200 friends, while those in their forties have between 50 and 100.
However, those using sites such as Facebook over the age of 50, tended to have 20 or less friends.The oldest person surveyed was 70 years old.
Paul Hudson, Intersperience's chief executive, said: "Our research underlines fundamental changes taking place in British society as a result of finally entering the digital age. Half of the UK population are on Facebook now. In a social media context, a 'friend' means something different to a 20 year old than to a 50 year old."
He added: "Social networking activity is just one example of how different groups are adapting to the digital age at different paces. In this case, age is the determining factor - however in other instances it is not."
(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
最新调查显示，英国平均年龄在22岁的年轻人在Facebook等社交网站上有一千多名好友，而50多岁的人好友还不足20人。 这项最新调查强调指出了这种"Facebook代沟"，研究结果显示，22岁的年轻人在Facebook等社交网站上有一千多名好友。 Intersperience市场调查机构开展最新调查称，尽管Facebook等社交网站在年长一代中也很流行，但20多岁的年轻人社交网络好友的数量是50多岁的人的50多倍。 该调查出炉的同一周，恰逢Facebook的"二把手"谢丽尔•桑德博格到访英国并在伦敦政治经济学院发表演讲。 Facebook首席运营官谢丽尔•桑德博格将讲述社交网络如何改变了人们的友谊和交往关系。 调查显示，人们的年龄和社交网络好友的数量有明显联系。研究人员发现，13岁至16岁的受访者平均有450个社交网络好友，女孩的好友数量略多于男孩。30多岁的受访者好友数量为100至200个，40多岁的受访者好友数量为50至100个。 但50岁以上的Facebook等社交网络用户好友数量最多才20个。年龄最大的受访者为70岁。 Intersperience机构的总经理保罗•哈德森说："我们的研究结果突现了最终迈入数字时代后，英国社会发生的根本变化。现在半数英国人都是Facebook用户。在社交媒体的语境下，'好友'的意思对20岁的人和50岁的人来说有不同的含义。" 他补充说："不同的群体适应数字时代的到来时步伐不同，社交网络活动只是一个例子。在这其中，年龄是决定因素，但在其它案例中却不是这样。"
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