AN Askfm survey has found that UK and Irish teens are obsessed with online popularity.
The study conducted by survey agency YouGov on behalf of AskFm asked teenagers aged 13-18 and parents about their perception of social networking and mobile app use.
The survey reveals that both British and Irish teenagers are equally fixated with their online popularity, but that Irish teenagers are more secretive with online activity.
It showed that 27% of Irish teenagers admitted hiding social media activity from parents, compared to only 10% of British teens.
The survey found that within minutes of posting online, teenagers were checking to see if they had received likes or comments from their peers. Across the study four in 10 stated they would feel disappointed if they didn’t get responses quickly after posting.
The survey found that both Irish and UK teens were worried about being laughed at online for talking about relationships, problems at home and family and friends online, with 52 per cent of UK teens and 38 per cent of Irish teens afraid others will judge them.
Despite concerns around the rise in cyber bullying, 78 per cent of all teens surveyed said they would step in if they saw someone being bullied online.
For parents, the main concern was not cyber-bullying, but the amount of time teenagers were spending online, with 61 per cent fearing their children were spending too much time on social media.
