One-third Brits prefer Facebook to face-to-face interactions with relatives

NEW YORK - The traditional way of catching up with relatives face to face has become passi, as an increasing number of people keep tabs on loved ones via Facebook or witter, a recent survey has revealed.

Nearly a third of Brits use cell phones, e-mail and social networking sites like Facebook to communicate with their loved ones, rather than actually sitting down to talk, according to the study reported in the Daily Mail.

One in five people said that they keep track of their family by checking Facebook and MySpace.

Almost 30 percent of the participants believe their relatives know more about their life because of social media and digital technology.

Commissioned by the makers of Flip MinoHD camcorder, the study of 3,000 people revealed that the average Brit engages in just six face-to-face conversations with other family members per week.

More than 1 in 10 participants said that they don’t ever have meaningful face-to-face talks with their relatives.

They turn to Twitter to talk to family members, which leaves an average of two posts weekly for their kin, reported the study.

They also make half a dozen phone calls each week to family members to catch up.

“It seems people are now more likely to send an e-mail to a relative filling them in on their daily activities, or even leave a post on their Facebook wall. Modern technology has made it asier than ever to keep in touch with our friends and family,” the New York Daily News quoted Gareth Jones, UK and Ireland region manager for Flip Video at Cisco, as saying. (ANI)