Almost a third of adults in Ireland have a fake social media account according to a new survey.
The study from Pure Telecom of a thousand people has found the average person has 4.4 social media accounts.
44% of men who responded to the survey admitted to having a fake account, compared to 28% of women.
Half of adults aged 26 and under confessed to having a fake account.
Of those who have a bogus account, 25% said they use it to view people’s posts and accounts anonymously, while 19% said it enables them to hide their identity while engaging in controversial discussions online.
The same proportion have a fake account so that they can stay under the radar of potential and current employers, clients or colleagues.
Social media blunders
The research also revealed the most common social media blunders including;
- Scrolling through a person’s feed and liking a post from a long time ago (34%)
- Sending an embarrassing message to the wrong person or group (22%)
- Accidentally commenting on the wrong post or image (18%)
- Accidentally sharing a post or image that was intended solely for the eyes of close friends or family (15%)
- Posting publicly thinking it was private (13%)
- Accidentally liking an ex’s post, or following/requesting to connect with them (10%)
- Accidentally liking an ex’s partner’s post, or following/requesting to connect with them (9%)
