Is Social Media Destroying Real-World Relationships? [INFOGRAPHIC]

There’s no doubt social media enables us to organize our real-world relationships, and even meet new people outside the digital realm — both of which can be great, life-enhancing things.

But could social networking have an adverse effect on our quality of life?

Consider this: 24% of respondents to one survey said they’ve missed out on enjoying special moments in person because — ironically enough — they were too busy trying to document their experiences for online sharing. Many of us have had to remind ourselves to “live in the now” — instead of worry about composing the perfect tweet or angling for just the right Instagram shot.

Worldwide, Facebook users spend 10.5 billion minutes each day surfing the site — and that doesn’t even include mobile use, according to the company’s IPO filing. Collectively, that’s nearly 20 years per day that people spend living online instead of offline.

Facebook users in India, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore all spend an average of more than 20 minutes on-site every day. In Singapore, the figure is a whopping 38 minutes.

A survey by the social site Badoo, meanwhile, found that 39% of Americans spend more time socializing online than in person. 20% actually prefer communicating online or via text message to face to face conversation, while a third said they’re more likely to approach someone new online than off.

The online education portal Schools.com recently culled findings from a variety of media and research outlets to create the infographic below, which details the positive and negative ways social media impacts real world relationships. Check it out below for the fuller picture.

What are the positive and negative effects of social media in your own life? Share with us in the comments.