The Irish love banter so is it surprising they seem obsessed with social media, spending a whole working day each week chatting and browsing on social networking sites?

According to a report on Joe.com this week, Irish adults spend eight hours a week on social media, while users aged 18 to 24 tweet to their Bebo profiles at least eleven hours every week.

But for the dangerously anti-social, there's a silver lining - almost 9 in 10 people say they still strongly prefer face-to-face communication with their immediate family (88%) and nearly as many with their close friends (82%). Despite the Irish enthusiasm for social media, 18 to 24s also hold the same views.

The internet is also changing how people interact. Half of Irish people now (53%) believe it is okay to take or make calls, texts, or send emails while in the toilet, with people from Dublin (59%) being more likely than other regions to do so.

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Nearly a quarter of all social media users (23%) say they spend between 10-24 hours on social networks each week followed by 12% who spend over 25 hours a week online.

Anxiety about net use also abounds, with 60% of the online population feeling there should now be a social media free day.