Teens more likely to give up smell than social media: study

GlobalPost

Do you love your Facebook page enough to give up one of your senses?

A new study by the McCann Worldgroup, which polled 7,000 16 to 30-year-olds across the UK, US, Spain, China, Brazil, India and Mexico, found that 53 percent of young people (between the ages of 16 and 22) would give up their sense of smell rather than sacrifice their social networks, PC Magazine reported.

According to the study, many said that they would feel "isolated and out of the loop without social networking." 

Global IQ director of McCann Worldgroup Laura Simpson explained that "technology is the great global unifier. It is the glue that binds this generation together and fuels the motivations that define them. Young people utilize technology as a kind of supersense which connects them to infinite knowledge, friends and entertainment opportunities."

The study also found that most young people (42 percent) want their friends to be truthful, 47 percent want to be remembered for their connections, and 44 percent believe that they are "good" at "knowing right from wrong."

A 2010 study by the Pew Research Center showed that 73 percent of teens use online social networking sites, and that 38 percent share photos, videos or artwork that they created online.

Fortunately, none of them will have to make the decision between their olfactory system and Facebook.  

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