Analysis: new research shows over a third of young Irish people have met an online friend in real life
By Gretta Mohan, ESRI
Social media, online gaming, internet-based recreational pursuits, as well as dating apps all provide opportunities for social interactions which first take place in an online environment. For some people, the development of online acquaintances may lead to meeting up in real life. Such online-initiated encounters are advantageous where people can meet a broader range of individuals with similar interests and enjoy positive real-life encounters.
For young people, these encounters can be especially important as they seek to develop their identity, friendships, explore relationships, practice greater autonomy, and better understand themselves. Internationally, however, the use of technology to facilitate meet-ups has also been associated with a growing trend of virtual and in-person harms such as sexual violence, abuse, stalking, revenge porn and harassment.
Online safety issues and privacy protections have received considerable attention from parents, advocacy groups, government bodies, and the European Union in recent years. Since the meeting of an unknown person in the real-world can carry personal safety risks, we've investigated the characteristics and behaviours of young people in Ireland associated with meeting someone face-to-face, after first making contact online.
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Using data collected in 2018-19, on over 4,300 20-year-olds from the Growing Up in Ireland study, a cohort study of children born in 1998, we looked at the characteristics and behaviours of those who reported they had met a person face-to-face after first getting to know them online within the previous year. The research considered such activities by sex, where statistical models accounted for household social class, whether the young person was living in the family home, and whether they were located in the capital city, Dublin.
The analysis revealed that more than one in three (34.9%) 20-year-olds reported having met someone face-to-face who they had originally encountered online. This was especially true of males, where a substantially greater share (37.1%) had met online acquaintances compared to females (27.1%). In fact, statistical models showed women had half the likelihood of a face-to-face encounter with someone that they first met in a virtual setting compared to men.
Of the 'big five’ personality characteristics, ‘openness’ was associated with a higher likelihood of meeting someone from online, while emotional stability was associated with a reduced likelihood. Heavier computer use was linked to reporting having met up with someone from online. Using dating apps at 17 years was found to double the likelihood of reporting having met someone from online at age 20. Being sexually active at 17, as well as reporting being non-heterosexual, was associated with meeting internet-based contacts.
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The modelling also showed differences between the sexes. For males only, a high risk-taking score was greater linked to online-offline meetings, as was early mobile phone ownership (at nine years). For the female-only sample, reporting a low number of friends (two or fewer) was linked to meeting an online acquaintance, which suggests some support for the idea of a ‘social compensation hypothesis’, where, for women, online-initiated friendships could be used to compensate for deficiencies in real-life friendships.
From the analysis, it was clear that meeting people from online is common practice among young ‘digitally native’ adults in Ireland. The work highlights the roles of risk appetite, online engagement, online dating, and sexual-related matters in young people’s encounters with online acquaintances. This data was collected pre-pandemic, and since the digital world continues to embed itself in the conduct of our modern lives and society, we can assume the practice of online-offline meetings continues and may have further increased for young people, and indeed across all age groups since. Going forward, we would like to have greater data and understanding of the positive and negative experiences of people from such experiences, as well as information in this area for children in Ireland under the age of 18.
From a public policy perspective, the findings of the current research have relevance in the areas of protecting the safety and privacy of users of internet-based apps and websites. Policy can have a role in providing education and awareness raising of safety risks as children and young people grow up. Guidance can be provided on negotiating risks, being responsible online, as well as resilience building and coping strategies to prepare for online-offline encounters.
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Schools have featured online safety as part of social, personal and health curriculums where students have undertaken information projects and received external talks from policing and online security experts. Such education and awareness raising is important from early second-level through to college and university. In terms of apps and websites people use that can lead to an offline meeting, mitigation strategies against risks could be implemented, either enforced by governments or adopted by technology companies, e.g., verification of user’s profiles.
Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that particular groups may merit special attention, such as young people who report they have a non-heterosexual sexual orientation. Support groups for LGBTQ+ people may provide a forum for awareness raising, as well as discussing experiences. Given the estimated associations between the use of online dating apps, sexual activity at 17 and meeting online acquaintances at 20, places which offer sexual health, relationship and counselling services may also provide information and advice.
Dr Gretta Mohan is a Research Officer in Economic Analysis with the ESRI and affiliated with Trinity College Dublin. Her current research areas span electronic communications, health, education and energy policy.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
