The internet users in India and China have more tendency to make friends online than the internet users from other parts of the world – states a new survey of global web users. The survey articulated in the Norton Online Living Report, commissioned by Internet security firm Symantec, says that Indian and Chinese web users make more online friends than other global web users.

According to the Norton Online Living Report, the Indian web users are more tendentious to develop romantic relationships via web than the web users from other parts of the globe.

The surveyors survey 9,000 adults and teenagers from a dozen of countries including, United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Japan, Brazil and India, and found that E-mail was the most popular medium to communicate with friends and family online. The survey found that 92% people used E-mails, as medium of communication, while 50% responded that they use social networking sites.   

According to the survey, seven in ten adults surveyed worldwide responded that Internet has helped making their relationships better. In India, the percentage of these web users was higher; 90% of Indian web users responded that Internet helped improving their relationships.

Symantec regional product marketing manager David Hall said, “The Internet is a ubiquitous medium. More and more people are relying on it to manage their relationships with their family and friends.”

The Norton Online Living Report articulates that 60% of the global adult web users responded that they have made friends online, while 86% of adult internet users in China, 83% of adult web users in India, and 83% of adult web users in Brazil responded that they have made friends online. The survey found that the percentage of the online friend makers in France was 32% and in Japan was 38%.

The survey found that globally, 14% of adults used the Internet to rekindle a romantic relationship, while 37% of adults in India and 25% of adults in Brazil responded that they used internet to revive an old romance.
The survey found that the majority of web users prefer internet for discussing touchy subjects; about 25% of the global web users responded that they feel more comfortable in discussing touchy subjects online than in person or by phone, while 50% of the Chinese and Indian web users responded so.

The survey also noted that Indian web users were more negligent about security of their personal information. The survey found that 67% of Indian, 68% of Italian, and 72% of Japanese web users were careless about installing security software on their computers.