‘Cyber shaming’ is turning teens teetotal

Young people between the ages of 16 to 24 have stopped drinking completely in a bid to avoid being photographed drunk and “cyber shamed” on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

According to the National Office of Statistics, the number of drinkers in this age demographic has declined; numbers of those choosing to remain alcohol free are up from 19% in 2005 to 27% in 2013.
In addition, the number of young people partaking in binge-drinking – classified as drinking more than eight units for men and six units for women on one day in the previous week – has fallen sharply, from 29% to 18%.

Drinkaware reports that tougher rules on off-licences, bars and supermarkets selling alcohol to under-21s may have been a contributing factor to decline in drinking.

Spokesman Kelly O’Sullivan told the Daily Mail: “We’ve also seen something called ‘cyber-shame’. Young people who spend a lot of time online are quite happy to tag photos of their friends drunk but are more concerned about being tagged themselves. This might curb their behaviour.”

Earlier this year, a study claimed that alcohol producers are using social media to “aggressively” target young consumers and blur the lines between drinking culture and sporting culture.