A quarter of adults talk online more than in person.

The ever-growing importance of social networking sites to retailers using parcel delivery and courier services has been demonstrated with a new survey revealing over a quarter (26 per cent) of adults spend more time chatting online than they do in person.

One in ten (11 per cent) of us prefer staying in at the weekend and catching up with all their mates via the internet, instead of going out to meet them, the research from social gaming site Yazino found.

So-called sofalising, is apparently what is becoming popular - talking and engaging with friends and family from the comfort of the settee.

In addition, 11 per cent actually organise their social lives via social sites, like Facebook or MySpace.

Yazino founder and chief executive officer Hussein Chahine said: "People increasingly prefer quick and frequent engagement with instant updates on news than a prolonged chat and are also finding new ways to catch up with friends from their comfort of their sofa."

An article for gigaom this week suggested that social media use is reaching "critical mass".

Posted by Tom Sands 

Article Added: 10/11/2010 09:28:09