Making friends in cyberspace is an established fact these days. However, a recent survey conducted by a gateway website shows that comparatively large numbers of people are disappointed with their netpals and think it very likely to make bad friends there.
A survey on cyber love initiated by Yahoo China shows that in modern society, people involved in cyber love are getting younger and younger. Making friends in cyberspace is developing in a more matured way and has become an irreversible trend. However, with the greater engagement of users, their dissatisfaction towards the service is getting stronger. About 39.1 percent of those who were surveyed were dissatisfied at the personal qualities of their netpals. Some 19.2 percent were dissatisfied at inadequate information on their netpals. Meanwhile, 16.9 percent of those surveyed showed strong dissatisfaction with the disclosure of their privacy. About 17 percent were dissatisfied at fees randomly charged by service providers.
The data roused the attention of the website. Allan Kwan, managing director of Yahoo North Asia said, "The Internet will widely broaden the circle of personal dates. Through this survey, we get to know that users need to make friends in a safe and healthy cyberspace."
It is reported that many websites have started to improve their platform for making friends in cyberspace. Yahoo has specially added new functions including blacklisting and two-way quick matches in their service in order to ensure users will be free of harassment.
According to some insiders, making friends in cyberspace has become a very popular Internet service loved by both users and businessmen. Websites must shoulder the social responsibility and create a safe and mature environment with transparent charges so as to let the service develop into a healthy, orderly, effective and high quality environment.
(China.org.cn by Wang Qian, July 14, 2003)
