Do we leave our manners outside of social media?

How do people behave on social media sites?

In the main, it seems, we're not too bad.

Perhaps it's because online comments can become a catalyst for a mob mentality and are often set in stone digitally -- rather than being lost and forgotten if it's verbal -- every small action can seem worse online.

Either that, or such transparent and blatant abuse we can find on social networks means we remember it more often -- with evidence suggesting many will act in a fashion that wouldn't be tolerated in the physical world under the cloak of 'anonymity'.

According to a recent study conducted by Pew and interpreted by Salesforce Rypple in the infographic below, only one in five teenagers and one in twenty adults said that people were "mostly unkind" on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

69 and 85 percent stated that people were "mostly kind" respectively, and some even use the networks in order to promote their self-esteem. Over half of children and adults attribute social media as a means to better their self-confidence,

However, as we may expect, networks that teenagers tend to frequent are often a base for negative behaviour. When teenagers become involved in these situations online, the consequences physically were said to be:

• 25 percent later got into trouble at work or school;
• 22 percent became involved in a physical fight;
• 13 percent said that social networking caused issues with their family;
• 8 percent had a face-to-face argument;
• For 6 percent, sites such as Twitter and Facebook ended a friendship.

22 percent becoming physically as well as emotionally involved seems a bit high. However, with hormones ranging and the minefield of social politics found at school, it is not unreasonable to assume when social media 'bullying' reaches a certain stage, it won't spill out into the playground.

For more information, view the infographic below:

Infographic provided by: Salesforce Rypple