77% of youngsters project fake image on Internet: Study

Half of the users said that social media use determined their mood — 45% agreed that getting likes or followers on the social media makes them happy while 51% said they feel anxious or socially cut-off when they cannot access their social networking sites.

Around 77% of the surveyed youth tend to project a very different or ‘fake’ life on social media while 42% of them get envious when they see posts by other social media users, revealed a survey conducted by students of St Xavier’s College, Dhobi Talao.

The survey, conducted among 1,000 youngsters between the age group of 16-25, was conducted as part of the students’ project for the semester and took them over two months to get the results. (Getty Images/iStockphoto( Representational Image))

The survey, conducted among 1,000 youngsters between the age group of 16-25, was conducted as part of the students’ project for the semester and took them over two months to get the results.

According to the study, around 79% of the youth use social media daily while 40% of them spend three to five hours on social media sites daily.

Half of the users said that social media use determined their mood — 45% agreed that getting likes or followers on the social media makes them happy while 51% said they feel anxious or socially cut-off when they cannot access their social networking sites. “Everyone is aware of how much they depend on social media but very few are aware of the consequences. Something as simple as not being aware of privacy settings on one’s social networking account can lead to bigger trouble in the future,” said a first-year Bachelors of Arts (FYBA) student of St Xavier’s College, who was part of the team that conducted the survey.

The survey also highlights how despite almost 80% respondents claiming to be aware of cyberbullying and other forms of crimes online, only 29% respondents said they do not share personal information on social media while the rest agreed that they share personal data to an extent. Only 19% respondents were aware of redressal policies in case of an incident, while the rest were either completely unaware or unclear about the rules.

“Cyberbullying and phishing are growing crimes and when children visit social media websites without knowing privacy policies, it’s inviting trouble. We hope institutes take proper initiatives to ensure students are vigilant,” said Balsingh Rajput, SP Cyber Crime, Maharashtra division. The students shared their survey results with Rajput this week, and he has assured their work will be shared with the cybercrime department.