Aussie News 9: Young women put Facebook before going to the toilet

• Women increasingly addicted to social media
• One in five wake up in night to reply to postings
• Bosses who ban Facebook do so at their peril

ONE third of young women check Facebook before brushing their teeth or going to the toilet in the mornings.

New research reveals women aged 18 to 34 are becoming increasingly addicted and dependent upon technology and social networking sites.

One in five even said they woke up in the middle of the night to respond to wall postings, tweets and texts, while 37 per cent have fallen asleep with their phones in their hands.

The study of more than 1600 American social media users by Oxygen Media was conducted to chart online behavioural trends.

It also showed that although 63 per cent of respondents used Facebook for networking, nearly half said they had no problem posting photos of their drunken selves on the site.

Other key findings of the study were:

- 79 per cent are fine with kissing in photos posted on Facebook;

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

- 58 per cent use Facebook to keep tabs on “frenemies”; and

- 50 per cent are fine with being Facebook friends with complete strangers.

A seperate study out this week found that bosses who block Facebook actually hinder productivity in the workplace.

The book Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements, which draws upon Gallup Consulting research from more than 150 countries, identified five essential elements to overall wellbeing - career wellbeing, social wellbeing, financial wellbeing, physical wellbeing and community wellbeing.

The book's co-author, Tom Rath, said that a person thriving in all five elements will be a better employee.

Part of the reason blocking Facebook and Twitter at work may prove detrimental is the book's finding that people need about six hours of social interaction a day, whether they were introverts or extroverts.

Gallup Consulting engagement manager Allan Watkinson said a part of that time would have to come in the workplace, and the prospect of staff spending hours logged onto social media sites worried some bosses.

"It scares employers that people are going to be sociable and not productive," Mr Watkinson said.

"However, we found that if you can promote that tool and use it in an effective way, actually you are going to get higher productivity."

Comment: We can serve facebook or twitter, but we need to control the time used. So, moderation is very important. If we not exceed, it will bring benefit to us.