Third of young people have met someone in person they first encountered online

The results from the Growing Up in Ireland national longitudinal study of children highlight a marked difference between the genders with 37.1% of young men meeting an online acquaintance compared to 27.1% of young women.

More than a third of all young people in Ireland have reported meeting someone face-to-face who they originally got to know online.

A new study by the Economic and Social Research Institute has revealed that meeting online contacts in real life is commonplace among 20-year-olds in the Republic, with many doing it for recreation as well as “social compensation".