Study: The British Value Facebook More than a Flushing Toilet
Study: The British Value Facebook More than a Flushing Toilet
Posted 09/12/2011 at 8:39am
| by Paul Lilly
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Seeing a lot of crappy status updates on Facebook lately from your British connections? Maybe your friends are constipated. That seems like a silly conclusion to come to, but is it really? According to a new study, British adults view Facebook as more vital to their day-to-day lives than a flushing toilet. We wish we were kidding.
The bass-ackward revelation comes from a survey conducted by One Poll commissioned by London's Science Museum, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail. Some 3,000 adults were asked what they couldn't live without, and most answered sunshine. So far so good, except that the No. 2 necessity was an Internet connection, ranking ahead of clean drinking water at No. 3. Then came a fridge (No. 4), Facebook (No. 5), NHS (No. 6), a cooker (No. 7), email (No. 8), a flushing toilet (No. 9), and mobile phone/smartphone (No. 10).
At least a flushing toilet ranked higher than a mobile phone, but apparently verbal diarrhea on Facebook takes precedence over the real thing.
"Brits are obsessed by the weather, so it's not surprising sunshine was rated as the top thing we couldn't live without," said Sarah Richardson, the museum's Exhibition Manager. "But to say you can't live without material things over drinking water is crazy."
Ms. Richardson went on to say that fresh drinking water is something the western world takes for granted even though it's "becoming scarcer in many parts of the world. If you see how little water others have to drink or grow food you soon realize water is fast becoming a luxury for millions."
Typos were a pet peeve with spell-check ranking No. 41 on the Top 50 list, coming in higher than a push-up bra (No. 43) and an iPad (No. 46), but not as high as chocolate (No. 28) or Google (No. 23). Taking a shower ranked No. 14, which probably should have been much higher if Facebooking takes precedence over a flushing toilet.
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schwit
September 13, 2011 at 7:03am
The same people that think FB is important also watch dancing with the stars and reality shows. People need to get a life ... their own life. When they get older they are going to look back and regret the wasted time.
Cleaver
September 12, 2011 at 9:48pm
My two cents:
The one think I cant live without is toilet paper. I would give up everything before that- sunshine excluded probably- but I wont be giving up that toilet paper.
Guisano
September 12, 2011 at 2:27pm
The Brits might be on to something here. The simple fact is that one is usually seated when engaged in social networking and what's more social than being seated upon a throne of porcelain clothed only from the waist up? The only one that needs to know is you.
stradric
September 12, 2011 at 9:53am
People are obviously giving joke answers here and not taking this study seriously. I can't blame them either. Let their toilet pile up for a day and then see if they think their answers are so funny.
don2041
September 12, 2011 at 10:19am
I am not joking. After seeing my neice bullied on face book , my neighbor had lies and intrusive thing said about her, plus the numerous other piles of shit being shoveled on this so called social network, I would love to flush facebook down a toilet.
Guisano
September 12, 2011 at 2:20pm
It really is the way the younger generation communicate. Check out what people are doing on their phones, tablets, notebooks at the airport or on the planes themselves. At least 1/3 of the folks - higher as age decreases - are on facebook and chat
lhatten
September 12, 2011 at 9:49am
Love the graphic, but the study is dumb. Think that if you had non-clean drinking water and no flush toilet, you would change your priorities.
Coldrage
September 12, 2011 at 9:11am
Yes the Brits are strange, born here but don't consider myself a Brit.
Stupid people, pretty sure they would value a flushing toilet more than facebook if they were busting and couldn't find a toilet.
TommM
September 12, 2011 at 9:02am
Them's some strange folks in the UK. But then again, I don't think you'd find much difference in that survey results here in the U.S. either. :p
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