'Tired of a Life on Display'... Preference for Deep Minority Relationships and Closed SNS

"Life is tough now, hard to care about relationships"
1 in 2 adults, "Interested in closed SNS"

Fatigue experienced in daily life is affecting the maintenance of human relationships, leading to a preference for 'narrow and deep human relationships' and increased interest in 'closed social networking services (SNS),' according to a recent survey.

'Preference for Narrow and Deep Human Relationships... Reflecting Fatigue in Daily Life'

[Image source=Pixabay]

On the 26th, Embrain Trend Monitor, a market research specialist company, conducted a survey on the perception of usual human relationships and closed SNS (such as Bondi) among 1,000 adults aged 19 to 59 nationwide who have SNS accounts. The results showed that while most respondents agreed on the necessity of 'good human relationships,' they also felt considerable fatigue in maintaining them.

Additionally, as the tendency to communicate only with close friends on existing SNS has strengthened, there was a slight increase in interest in closed SNS.

First, the majority of respondents strongly agreed that learning how to communicate and understand emotions in relationships with others is important (89.6% agreement rate).

Furthermore, it was clear that there is a distinct attitude focusing on the 'depth' of human relationships.

Even if relationships are not deep or close, there was a higher tendency to prefer 'deep human relationships (68.6%)' over 'broad human relationships (31.4%).'

Moreover, many respondents considered having a few close friends as a successful life (84.0%) and thought it better to focus more on 'a small number of human relationships' (68.0%).

Embrain explained, "Overall, we could see a recent social atmosphere that seeks meaning from a small number of people rather than expanding relationships broadly."

This preference for deep human relationships is interpreted as reflecting fatigue in daily life.

The response that 'current life is tough, leaving no energy to care about human relationships' increased compared to the 2020 survey (29.3% → 38.5%). Especially among respondents in their 30s, who are most active economically, the difficulty in maintaining relationships was rated higher (20s 40.0%, 30s 45.6%, 40s 34.4%, 50s 34.0%).

In addition, more than half of respondents (56.4%) said they want to have more personal time rather than meeting and socializing with others.

Embrain added, "It can be anticipated that in the future, more people will prioritize the use of personal time over investing time to maintain human relationships."

High Exposure of Privacy on SNS and Fatigue from Showing Off... 'Preference for Closed SNS'

[Image source=Pixabay]

Recently, a preference for human relationships with a small number of people was also observed on SNS.

Personal SNS accounts were often open only to close relationships (65.8%), and even on open SNS, there was a strong tendency to communicate with only a few people (65.3%).

There was also a high level of caution about unknown people viewing SNS (53.9%). Perhaps because of this, one in two respondents (51.8%) showed interest in closed SNS.

Respondents mainly attributed the emergence of closed SNS to the ability to communicate only with close people (54.4%, multiple responses allowed), less exposure of privacy compared to other SNS (48.0%), and increasing fatigue with showy SNS (40.3%).

Especially among older respondents in their 50s, there was a high response rate indicating a desire to communicate only with truly close people on SNS (20s 52.4%, 30s 49.2%, 40s 50.4%, 50s 61.2%) and interest in SNS where communication is possible only among desired people (20s 39.2%, 30s 38.8%, 40s 44.8%, 50s 56.4%).

Embrain explained, "As the burden of exposing daily life to an unspecified majority increases and fatigue with posts for showing off grows, people seem to highly value the ability to communicate only with specific people they want."

However, more than six out of ten respondents (66.3%) believed that even if closed SNS gains popularity, open SNS users will overwhelmingly remain the majority. Therefore, it is expected that there will still be appeal points for existing SNS.

Human Relationships as 'Assets'... "No Need if No Benefit"

[Image source=Pixabay]

Meanwhile, a significant number of respondents showed a tendency to consider 'beneficial' human relationships.

Building many helpful or beneficial human relationships is seen as an asset (63.4%), and there is a clear perception that having relationships with capable friends will be helpful someday (62.8%). Additionally, 55.4% responded that it is better to make many friends who are capable if possible.

Especially among respondents in their 20s and 30s, there was a strong need for helpful or beneficial relationships, and a relatively higher tendency to avoid relationships that are not helpful (20s 32.8%, 30s 31.2%, 40s 26.4%, 50s 25.6%).

Since meeting people is felt to consume considerable physical and emotional energy (20s 54.8%, 30s 56.0%, 40s 48.8%, 50s 41.6%), it is interpreted that they do not want to engage in emotional labor in meaningless relationships.