Golnaz Bassam Tabar spends most of her day logged into Facebook. Photo / Doug Sherring
Golnaz Bassam Tabar spends most of her day logged into Facebook. Photo / Doug Sherring
Golnaz Bassam Tabar says you can never have too many friends — even those you're never likely to meet.
The Auckland communications adviser is living proof of Facebook's "Be connected. Be Discovered" mantra. She has more than 2,000 friends on the social media platform but only 50 are friends in real life.
The 33-year-old is also among a growing number of New Zealanders whose use of Facebook is surging. A new international survey shows Kiwis are among the world's most prolific Facebookers.
Market research firm IDC's "ConsumerScape 360" study — which surveyed people in 26 countries, including 1,500 New Zealanders aged 18 and over, on their use of technology — showed 16 per cent of Kiwis were constantly logged into Facebook.
They were fourth behind Malaysia (26 per cent), America (19 per cent) and the UK (18 per cent).
The survey found 68 per cent of New Zealand respondents used Facebook for up to 30 minutes at a time, second only to the UK (71 per cent) and ahead of America (67 per cent) and Malaysia (50 per cent).
Bassam Tabar's use is so great that her partner, who she lives with, often resorts to Facebook messaging to communicate with her.
Bassam Tabar's partner is one of her 2,500 Facebook friends. She said she had never met at least 2,000 of her online mates.
And she feels more connected to some in her Facebook community — including people who live overseas — than she does to some of the people she sees in every day life.
Some had even donated money to help fund her animal welfare work.
"It just feels natural," Bassam Tabar said.
"It feels like if we didn't have an ocean separating us we would be friends with a common passion and interests and do the things mates do, like catch up, share life events and have a shoulder to cry on."
Bassam Tabar is logged into Facebook all day, every day.
The social network appealed to her because "sharing is literally one click of a button" away.
But her high use comes at a cost. She admitted there were times it impinged on her everyday life.
"Sometimes I can't enjoy the moment because I am too caught up on my phone," she said. "It's an addiction."
Diary of a Facebook addict
Some of Golnaz Tabar's Facebook friends have donated money to help fund her animal welfare work. Photo / Doug Sherring
Shared a funny video of dogs cuddling on a bed, pictures and details of death row dogs and cats in council pounds. Uploaded a picture of my cat and also changed my profile picture.
Monday (10 hours)
Checked in on my phone when I woke at 7am then had Facebook running in the background through the working day. I uploaded a picture of my fast-food meal poking fun at me being on a diet, before sharing a kickboxing fight video.
Tuesday (10 hours)
Shared animal petitions and cruelty videos, then funny cat and dog videos. I commented on a post about politics in a debate. Responded to private messages from friends. I tagged friends in a picture. The only time I wasn't checking in was when I was training at the gym.
Shared animal petitions, funny animal videos, and an article about the nuclear deal between Iran and the US. I uploaded a photo of the peace sign draped in the Iranian flag and talked about the importance of promoting diplomacy. Uploaded a video of my cat and dog playing.
Thursday (10 hours)
Shared political article about US-Iran negotiations and expressing support for diplomacy. Posted a status about being exhausted. Uploaded a picture of a cat and commented on posts about farming and eating meat.
Friday (10 hours)
Uploaded a photo of my kitten on the bed and a video of training partners at my gym. Private-messaged friends.
Shared more posts about death-row animals. Spoke to an ill friend in private messages. Spent Saturday night browsing and posting, including some cheeky comments about my partner who was sitting next to me.
