By Ken Y-N ( November 4, 2009 at 22:40)
· Filed under Polls, Society
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Here’s an interesting look at socialising and friends from MyVoice.
Demographics
Over the first five days of October 2009 13,534 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 13% in their twenties, 32% in their thirties, 31% in their forties, and 22% aged fifty or older.
Even though the sample used was from the MyVoice internet community, in Q2 you can see that only 8.3% form friendships through the internet. Despite, or perhaps because, being an anti-social git myself, I have made a good number of acquaintances through my blogging, and dare I say it even a friend or two, as I have done through my trusted computing conference attendance.
Two years ago I translated another survey on inter-personal relationships.
Research results
Q1: About how many friends do you have? (Sample size=13,534)
| None at all |
6.7% |
| One or two |
12.2% |
| Three or four |
22.2% |
| Five or six |
20.6% |
| Seven or eight |
8.5% |
| Nine or ten |
6.0% |
| Eleven or more |
23.8% |
Q2: How did you get to know these friends? (Sample size=those with friends, multiple answer)
| High school |
55.3% |
| Workplace, customer, other work-related |
52.4% |
| University |
38.1% |
| Junior high school |
34.2% |
| Through hobby |
25.1% |
| Kindergarten, primary school |
24.3% |
| Through children |
21.2% |
| Neighbour, neighbourhood community |
12.3% |
| Computer-based internet community, blog, etc |
8.3% |
| Through family, relatives |
7.3% |
| Through volunteer, other social activities |
4.5% |
| Cram school |
2.2% |
| Mobile phone site |
0.7% |
| Other |
5.4% |
| No answer |
0.8% |
Q3: How do you keep in touch, communicate with these friends? (Sample size=those with friends, multiple answer)
| Talk face-to-face |
74.8% |
| Mobile phone email |
63.7% |
| Talk on mobile phone |
48.2% |
| Computer email |
34.3% |
| Talk on fixed-line home phone |
22.4% |
| Letters, postcards |
20.3% |
| Writing on blogs, SNS, etc |
12.9% |
| Other |
1.4% |
| Don’t really communicate |
2.1% |
| No answer |
0.8% |
Q4: How satisifed overall are you with your current inter-personal relationships? (Sample size=13,534)
| Satisified |
15.3% |
| Somewhat satisfied |
62.1% |
| Somewhat dissatisfied |
17.2% |
| Dissatisfied |
4.0% |
| No answer |
1.4% |
Q5: Which friends are the bedrock of your current interpersonal-relationships? (Sample size=13,534, multiple answer)
| Friends of the same sex |
48.7% |
| Spouse |
36.0% |
| Children |
29.2% |
| Parents |
24.9% |
| Friends of the opposite sex |
13.1% |
| School or work friends |
11.9% |
| Hobby, sports gatherings |
11.9% |
| Other family members, relatives |
10.6% |
| Girlfriend, boyfriend |
8.2% |
| Friends through children |
7.0% |
| Internet community, blog friends |
5.2% |
| Neighbours |
4.9% |
| Local community |
2.6% |
| Through other family members |
1.2% |
| Other |
2.2% |
| None in particular |
16.6% |
| No answer |
0.3% |
Q6: Regarding socialising, which of the following describe you? (Sample size=13,534, multiple answer)
| It’s best to keep a certain distance from other people |
47.4% |
| If I have free time, I prefer to spend it by myself |
38.5% |
| I can’t talk freely with people I don’t know |
36.1% |
| I like having fun with friends |
26.3% |
| I can say what I think face-to-face easier than by email or telephone |
25.9% |
| I have deep but narrow friendships with people who share my hobbies, etc |
24.2% |
| I have a close relationship with my parents, relatives |
17.9% |
| I’m an anti-social git |
17.1% |
| I have broad but shallow friendships |
15.1% |
| It is easier to communicate by email than on the phone or face-to-face |
14.6% |
| I don’t scrimp on spending on socialising |
9.1% |
| I make sure to regularly touch base with my friends |
8.8% |
| I often invite friends round to my house |
8.3% |
| I participate in the neighbourhood association, local events, gatherings, etc |
7.4% |
| None of the above |
4.8% |
| No answer |
0.4% |
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The number of people reporting friends dating back to elementary school/kindergarten is pretty impressive as well, though typical of East Asia. I think a lot of North Americans don’t even have one friend they actually *see* from those days (Facebook doesn’t count). Maybe rural folks who haven’t moved since childhood, but…yeah. I was always impressed by the importance of the classmate relationship when I was in Taiwan, even seeing elderly ladies having a grand time at lunch with their “classmates” from elementary school. I felt kind of jealous. I’m only in close contact with *one* schoolmate (from junior high-high school, in my case, and even she lives hundreds of miles away), though Facebook has brought me back into occasional online contact with a few others. I suspect it’s pretty healthy to have frequent face-to-face and phone contact with people who have known you so long, though it may also be a little stifling.
i think this survey lacked definitions.
ex. definition of a “friend” according to the Japanese social criterion.
it would be cool to contrast this type of survey with other countries/cultures/religion
ex. the socio-psychological implications of “It’s best to keep a certain distance from other people”