More than 26 million Brits1(41%) are packing in two to four social arrangements per weeknight and two-thirds (59%) admit to leaving social events early for fear of missing out on something better in keeping with new research* by lastminute.com, the UK’s largest online hotel, travel and leisure specialist. The research has uncovered a brand new form of ‘iSocial Butterfly’ behaviour amongst Brits because the use of social media and smart phone technology begins to steer the manner we socialise and relate to others.
Almost 1/2 all those surveyed (42%) admit that it’s social media and smartphone technology that has enabled them to act more spontaneously; with an ever-changeable social calendar available on the tap of a marginally screen. With this in mind, friends checking-in to ‘better options’ on Facebook appears to be like influencing the typical dwell time of 97 minutes at a celebration (to be polite) and the 59% of respondents who wouldn’t think carefully about ditching one social event half-way through.
With 1 / 4 of Brits (23%) now preferring to devise their entire social schedule using social media, with Facebook as their preferred platform, online technology looks making us more spontaneous in our arrangements.
TV’s favourite neuroscientist, Dr Jack Lewis comments, “The emergence of the Social Butterfly is a transparent reflection of the impact of recent technology on brain areas excited about juggling pleasure prediction, social interactions and decision making. Typically all of us hate to overlook out on any potentially important event because we naturally wish to maximise our pleasure. Besides, we feel guilty after we need to let people down; by saying no to family and friends. So now that smartphones and the net encourage us to constantly interact with our social networks we will find ourselves inundated with such a lot of social options it may become very difficult to select from them. So we don’t – we just accept all of them!”
The flight of the iSocial Butterfly
The new breed of iSocial Butterfly will stay at a celebration for as much as 97mins to seem polite, before flying off to their next engagement using fear of missing out. Probably, they are going to even provide you with a cheeky lie or two2 to flee a celebration on the last minute. When the iSocial Butterfly has taken flight, 1 / 4 (23%) will keep away from their Facebook and Twitter feeds for fear that they might have made the incorrect decision in leaving a prior engagement early.
Mark Maddock, Managing Director of lastminute.com UK and Ireland says, “Businesses must reply to changes in customer behaviour because the new breed of ‘iSocial Butterfly’ desires to book evenings out NOW and getaways at the same day. This year* customers are making snap decisions about theatre visits with 69% prone to book an analogous or next day. Our mobile traffic also means that bookings are being increasingly made at the move with an 80% YOY increase in visits to our restaurant page through smart phones. Spontaneous decisions are even extending into travel with an over 100% YOY increase in same day hotel room bookings. With Wifi now available at 120 London underground stations and with airlines starting to offer this service, the need for immediacy in our leisure decisions is just set to extend.”