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Shutterstock/Gil C

Irish young people have this many Facebook friends

This comes as part of new research into the consumer habits of 16- to 35-year-olds.

A NEW SURVEY looking at the consumer habits of Irish young people has found that the average number of Facebook friends for 16- to 35-year-olds is 360.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the older you get the less cyber-friends you seem to have.

Among 16- to 18-year-olds the average number of friends was 490, a figure that drops off to 205 for people in the 30- to 35-year-old age bracket.

The new figures from Thinkhouse, the youth communications agency, also found that the average individual clocks up 102 minutes online per day.

facebook friends Thinkhouse Thinkhouse

Prospects at the moment?

Economically speaking, Irish young people seem broadly optimistic about the country’s future.

Two-thirds said they feel that they will be living in Ireland in three years time, with only 19% saying that they see themselves living and working abroad.

When asked about their current prospects, 44% said that they feel optimistic about finding a job. Just under half (48%) said that they were currently in work, with 33% being full-time, 12% being part-time and 3% saying that they were self-employed.

One encouraging indicator was that on a ranking of things to worry about, the job market has been knocked off the top spot.

Instead data privacy is now the main concern, with 79% expressing worrying about it.

Are young people lazy?

When asked to describe young people in one word, most individuals responded by saying that Irish young people are ‘lazy’ (26%) or ‘laid back’ (20%).

The 16- to 18-year-old age group asked expressed a more positive attitude, with one-fifth describing their generation as ambitious.

young people's attitude Thinkhouse Thinkhouse

What else did they find?

In terms of other future ambitions, it was found that less than half (45%) wanted to get married in the future. Around one-fifth (19%) said that marriage is not important to them but that they would like to be with someone long-term in the future.

One in three 16- to 35-year-olds said that they would like to have more than two children.

Speaking about the report, Jane McDaid, the founder of Thinkhouse, said that today’s report, “brings statistical validation to what we have been experiencing & that Ireland truly is recovering from recession.”

The survey is carried out as part of The Youth Lab division of Thinkhouse and releases results on a quarterly basis. Each quarter 500 different individuals are surveyed, with 2,000 surveyed over the course of the year.

Read: 5 charts that show how much Irish jobs have changed in less than one generation

Also: Renua Ireland doesn’t know how much money it has in its bank account

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34 Comments
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    Mute Trevor croft
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    Jul 19th 2021, 2:02 PM

    Thats horrendous, poor Kid.

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    Mute Valentine Kane
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    Jul 19th 2021, 2:28 PM

    What is wrong with people?

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    Mute Steve
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    Jul 19th 2021, 3:34 PM

    @Valentine Kane: Unfortunately some people have serious mental issues which our societies no longer take responsibilities for. As such people who should be institutionalised are left out in their communities where no-one is able to monitor them or even make sure they are taking their medication.

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    Mute Big Smokey
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    Jul 19th 2021, 3:45 PM

    @Steve: I love that false notion we have that we used to better for these people. “Our society no longer takes responsibility for” – our society used to put single mothers in homes, we never came close to whatever you think we had

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    Mute Steve
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    Jul 19th 2021, 5:23 PM

    @Big Smokey: What are you babbling on about? I’m talking about mental health issues and society as a whole (you know the world!) NOT Ireland and how it treated single mothers a few decades ago!

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    Mute Damon16
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    Jul 19th 2021, 7:30 PM

    @Steve: How would you define “serious mental issues” and what grounds would you use for locking people up against their will.

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    Mute Chris Linehan
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    Jul 19th 2021, 9:30 PM

    @Damon16: The people with issues such as wanting to eat other people are likely who he is referring to.

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    Mute Michael Burke
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    Jul 19th 2021, 2:40 PM

    Human beings, capable of the most incredibly heroic, generous and kind actions. Also capable of despicable cruel, barbaric and heinous behaviour.

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    Mute Hear me now
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    Jul 19th 2021, 2:55 PM

    @Michael Burke: yup…we ain’t that all evolved are we…let’s hope we make it to a more peaceful state of evolution.

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Jul 20th 2021, 1:08 AM

    @Michael Burke: Indeed. Also, I hope they shot the actual killer and not some random burglar.

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    Mute Colm Walsh
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    Jul 19th 2021, 2:29 PM

    What the actual fu¢k……….

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    Mute Teresa O'Halloran
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    Jul 19th 2021, 2:38 PM

    Sick

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    Mute Anna Carr
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    Jul 19th 2021, 3:21 PM

    Omg that’s just horrible. Freaks me out altogether

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    Mute Mary Paget
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    Jul 21st 2021, 6:53 AM

    Why shoot him if he wasn’t armed he had a lot of questions to answer

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