55% believe social media has replaced face-to-face interaction
Research carried out on behalf of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has found that 555 of those surveyed believe that social media has replaces face-to-face interaction, but a quarter regrets something they have posted.
The research of 2,000 people found that of those who do have regrets, 44% said it because what they had posted had been inappropriate, while 27% regretted it because they thought it had upset someone.
It was found that 26% would say, or have said, something on a social media website they would never say to someone's face.
Robin Dunbar, Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, said: "Our research has shown that people are more prone to saying something on social media that they later regret, because in these digital environments we don't receive the immediate checks and balances that we get during face-to-face interactions.
"This can therefore result in a careless or inappropriate tweet, or at worst, cyber bullying."
The theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘Speak Up, Speak Out’ and the Trust is asking people to consider what they see and hear around them.