New Site Encourages Get-Togethers

Millions of Brits in their 20s and 30s are losing social contact with close friends according to a report produced by Wigadoo.com. Findings show that they rely on email and internet to maintain contact rather than facing the hassle of organising get-togethers.

Two thirds of young professionals admit they are ‘too busy’ to organise meeting up with friends, outing 32% of Londoners as the most socially isolated group in the UK in contrast to 24% of Northerners.

Suprisingly, the report has uncovered that 37% of people are afraid of initiating nights out or weekends away because of concerns friends won’t commit or will pull out last minute, leaving the organiser out of pocket. Other reasons cited were getting commitment from freinds, the time involved, the responsibility required and even laziness.

Uma Rajah, co-founder of Wigadoo.com comments: “Modern lifestyles mean that organising groups of people can be time-consuming and complicated. Wigadoo.com makes the process simpler, quicker and safer so that people end up doing more, with more friends, more often.”

The average Briton now spends 11 hours per week on virtual networking with people they haven’t seen for years, compared with 10 hours per week on real life socialising, fostering a growing trend of virtual friendships.

Nigel Marlow, Director, Business & Consumer Psychology from London Metropolitan University, with expertise in group dynamics, said: “Young professionals are increasingly ready to accept the substitute of ‘virtuality’ over ‘the real thing’. This research shows that whilst people want to and indeed prefer to meet up with friends, they are not making the effort to initiate face-to-face interaction by organising get-togethers. The perceived inconvenience involved and the misplaced fear of failing to organise an enjoyable social event, is resulting in people hiding behind their computers.”

Other findings from the Wigadoo.com survey reveal:

· Battle of the sexes: A quarter of women are too concerned about making their friends happy when organising an event, while the same amount of men admit they’re just plain lazy

· Southern Comfort: Southerners counted themselves as among the best organisers and rarely found themselves stuck for inspiration

· With age comes experience: 45-54 year olds were the most confident in their abilities to organise a fun event for friends (94%), even more so than 18-24 year olds

· Difficult middle ground: The Welsh and Brummies find it the hardest to get their friends to commit to attending events

· High anxiety? 18-24 year olds were the most anxiety-ridden, with concerns friends might pull out at the last minute, leaving them to foot the bill

12 August 2008