Duh: Connecting With People Face-To-Face Makes Most People Happier Than Connecting Online

from the but-so-what dept

Well, here's yet another useless study. Apparently, someone had to do some research to find out that, for most people, it's more preferable to spend time face-to-face with others, rather than just online via social networks and the like:
Almost two-fifths, or 40 percent, of those surveyed said catching up with their loved ones after work was the happiest time of their day, while more than 20 percent said they were happiest when eating with their families.

By contrast, only 5 percent said they were happiest when connecting with friends online, and even less -- 2 percent -- said the first text message of the day made them joyful.
Well, duh. I don't think this should surprise anyone -- but it's also rather meaningless. The thing that makes us "most happy" doesn't mean that other stuff isn't important and isn't worthwhile. And, none of this is mutually exclusive. I know that my ability to stay in touch with certain people online makes the time we spend in person more enjoyable as well. These sorts of studies about what makes you "most" happy or "least" happy really don't provide very much useful information, because the focus should be on the overall equation, not the single item at the top of the list.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: face to face


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • icon
    ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 11 May 2010 @ 7:19pm

    The Post Office is EVIL!

    I like getting a phone call more than a letter. Why is the government making me unhappy!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Bubba Gump (profile), 11 May 2010 @ 7:39pm

      Re: The Post Office is EVIL!

      I submitted the form (verbally over the phone, of course) so you will now receive all mail over the phone. Someone from the post office will call you and read your mail out loud to you. This is called "Service of Envelope Extension" (S.E.X.) .

      Note that you will be charged a service fee of $4.95 per minute for the Phone S.E.X. operator.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 12 May 2010 @ 6:48am

        Re: Re: The Post Office is EVIL!

        Well, that was going great until they got to my phone bill. Then it went recursive.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Paul Alan Levy (profile), 11 May 2010 @ 8:07pm

    Not meaningless or useless....

    Somebody's gonna get tenure for this study -- useful and meaningful for the author :-)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Allen (profile), 11 May 2010 @ 11:39pm

      Re: Not meaningless or useless....

      You could argue that obvious hypotheses need to be validated too, I suppose...

      Nah, someone with tenure was behind on their published papers KPI. Surely not even in these fallen days could someone get tenure for make busy work?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 May 2010 @ 8:19pm

    just dont tell those people pushing online business meetings. they wouldnt want to hear it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 May 2010 @ 8:33pm

    Online Business Meetings are the exception

    No one wants to see those people face to face

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rob Crompton, 12 May 2010 @ 2:17am

    online business meetings

    A 200 mile round trip to spend all day face to face with fellow committee members doesn't make me very much happier than I would be if I could do it all in just half an hour online.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Pickle Monger (profile), 12 May 2010 @ 7:25am

    Apples and oranges

    "Almost two-fifths, or 40 percent, of those surveyed said catching up with their loved ones after work was the happiest time of their day, while more than 20 percent said they were happiest when eating with their families."


    Would the reverse work? Would less people prefer connecting online with their loved ones than catching up with friends after work?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    jjmsan (profile), 12 May 2010 @ 8:20am

    Coca Cola Study

    I am not sure that a study base on Coca-Cola's happiness barometer would be good for your tenure chance. This was a press release and had nothing about the survey questions or how the respondants were chosen. It also says Mexican people are the world's happiest.( US is 6th)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    bloomsoft7, 24 May 2010 @ 3:45am

    com

    EARN GLOBAL MONEY shows you different earning programs from all over the globe and help people to earn money from different earning program owned by different organizations. click here

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.