Physical and Other Activities Sacrificed Online

A new online survey one on 350 students measuring the networking activity and levels of physical activity suggest that the time spent on social networking sites blocks other activities including physical activity.

This study was conducted at the University of Ulster was presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society's Division of Health Psychology in Liverpool.

Emer O'Leary's research under the supervision of psychologists Dr Wendy Cousins and Dr Tadhg Macintyre at the University of Ulster studied the students addicted to Facebook and Twitter. Based on the questionnaire on their physical activity, nearly half were classified as moderately active' and a third were 'high activity', with a minority that were categorized under the low physical activity. A quarter of the respondents said they took part in team sports.

On analyzing the subjects the researcher found that the amount of time spent on social network websites was negatively correlated with the respondents' level of physical activity in the previous week. Facebook addicts showed least interest in sports.

"Time is a finite resource, so time spent in social networking must come at the expense of other activities. Our study suggests that physical activity may be one of those activities," Cousins said.

"Our findings are intriguing, but we have not conclusively demonstrated that social networking causes lower levels of physical activity. We will need to carry out more research to see if it really is a case of Facebook makes you fat rather than Twitter makes you fitter.