Avast (LSE: AVST), a world leader in digital security and protection solutions, conducted an online survey among 1,474 users from Russia about how Russians’s attitude towards social networks and quarantined applications has changed.
The study showed that 43% of quarantined Russians began to spend more time on social networks than before. Moreover, among children (under 18 years) this figure reaches 68%. Pensioners also became more active: 37% of this category noted that they often visited popular social networks.
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Discord is not the most famous application, but 37% of children downloaded it during quarantine. Discord is a free messenger with video conferencing support, which was originally aimed at users of computer games.
“Social networks and applications are excellent tools to help people communicate and maintain a positive attitude during quarantine, but we must not forget about confidentiality and security,” says Alexey Fedorov, head of Avast Russia and the CIS. “Less experienced users, such as children and older people, should be especially careful not to become a victim of scammers and not provide too much information as a result of improperly configured privacy settings.”
“I see a clear correlation of research indicators with the psychological state of most families at the moment. In times of crisis, the feeling of loneliness and emptiness that people try to make up for by communicating on social networks is intensified. They go there for positive emotions, impressions, communication, which are deprived in the current difficult situation, ”explains Tatyana Shemyakina, psychologist, expert in positive psychology. – “Children, due to developmental features, suffer from a lack of communication, perhaps more than adults. Therefore, it is not surprising that the number of downloaded applications has increased, which now remain the only means of interaction not only with peers, but also with the school, circles, and immediate relatives. ”
Alexey Fedorov gives the following tips for using new applications and social networks during quarantine:
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1. Download applications only from official stores. It is very important that children and the older generation understand how important it is to use only official app stores when downloading new programs. Malicious applications are mainly distributed outside of official applications, so as not to interfere with security checks conducted by Google and Apple, and not to ask users for permission to download the application. 2. Do not open suspicious letters, do not follow suspicious links and do not add strangers to your friends. Moreover, do not enter any data on sites with competition announcements, for example, to win a new iPhone. People spend more time on social networks and, therefore, may encounter new requests as friends, receive more messages and advertisements. It is important to properly evaluate and respond to them. Users should only accept friends and followers of people they personally know in the real world. Also, do not forget to carefully study the new stores and offers that they face in order to avoid fraud. 3. Share carefully. Content sharing and communication is great, but people should also consider their privacy. It can be one, viewing privacy settings in new and old applications, browsing friends and subscribers and thinking twice before sharing photos and videos.
Chief editor of the blog – Erika J. Wells .
