1/4英國人大部分社交活動在網上進行

One in four people spend more time socialising online, using sites such as Facebook, than they do in person, according to research.

People now have 11 different ways of staying in contact with their friends from the comfort of their sofa or bedroom.

These include simple email, messenger, text and several forms of social networking from Twitter to Facebook, said the survey by online casino Yazino.

It found even when there is time to see people face to face, like at a weekend, up to 11 per cent of all adults still choose to stay indoors and communicate instead.

This could be down to laziness, the cost of going out or simply not wanting too much personal contact with friends and family but just enough to swap brief messages and online chats.

It all adds up. The average online Brit spends 4.6 hours a week talking to friends online and only six hours a week talking to people in person, said Yazino.

There is even an army of 'extreme sofalisers' - the three per cent who spend a staggering 25 hours or more each week talking to friends via electronic devices.

The survey of 2,000 adults also found 11 per cent organise all their social diary around Facebook, Bebo or other network sites.

Yazino founder Hussein Chahine said: "Communication is constantly evolving. Some people are as used to seeing their friends online avatar as they are their face.

"We are now just as likely to SMS or email a friend as we are to call them.

"People increasingly prefer quick and frequent engagement with instant updates on news than a prolonged chat and are also finding new ways to catch up with friends from their comfort of their sofa.

More than seven in ten (71 per cent) text their friends and family and 31 per cent use social networking sites while just 27 per cent now use email as their primary means of contact.

A further 18 per cent use live chat and instant messaging systems.

研究顯示，四分之一的人在Facebook這樣的社交網站上交流的時間比面對面交流的時間更多。

現在的人們擁有11種不同的交流方式，舒服地坐在沙發上或臥室裏就能和朋友保持聯繫。

根據網上賭博遊樂場Yazino的調查，這些方式包括簡單的電子郵件、聊天軟件、短信以及幾種社交網絡，如Twitter和Facebook。

調查發現，即使有時間去見朋友（如週末），仍然有多達11%的成年人選擇待在室內交流。

這可能是因爲懶惰或是捨不得外出的花費，也可能僅僅是因爲不想跟朋友和家人有太多面對面接觸，認爲簡單發送幾條信息或網上聊聊天就足夠了。

Yazino稱，由於上述的種種原因，英國人平均每週花4.6個小時和朋友在網上聊天，而用於當面交流的時間僅爲6小時。

甚至，還有一大批“超級宅人”——3%的被調查者每週通過電子設備同朋友聊天的時間居然多達25小時及以上。

這項涵蓋了2000位成人的調查還發現，11%的被調查者所有的社交活動都是在Facebook、Bebo及其他社交網站上進行的。

Yazino的創始人侯賽因•夏英說道：“交流方式在不斷演變。有些人習慣了看朋友的在線頭像，就好像這些頭像是朋友的臉一樣。”

“我們現在給朋友發手機短信或電子郵件，就像給他們打電話一樣平常。”

“人們越來越喜歡用迅捷的方式頻繁瞭解即時更新的消息，而不是進行長時間的聊天。他們也在尋找新的方式在沙發上舒服地同朋友保持聯繫。”

在被調查者中，超過十分之七（71%）的人通過短信聯繫家人和朋友，31%的人使用社交網站，僅有27%的人目前將電子郵件作爲他們的主要聯繫方式。

此外，還有18%的人使用在線聊天工具和即時信息發送系統。

Vocabulary:

staggering: so large, shocking or surprising that it is difficult to believe（大得驚人的；駭人的；難以想像的）

avatar: a picture of a person or an animal representing a person on a computer screen, especially in a computer game or chat room （尤指電腦遊戲或聊天室中代表使用者的）化身