According to a new survey, 96% of Boston’s citizens use Facebook to communicate with friends and family while 52% claim they couldn’t last a week without social media.

The Prompt Communications research claims that while phone calls remain the most common method of communication – with 99% of respondents regularly using the phone to connect with friends and family – Facebook (96%) is now the next most popular communication tool. SMS came in third at 93%, followed by email with 91%.

The Digital PR and social media consultancy’s statistics revealed that overall, people appear to believe that advances in technology have created a negative effect on their lives and interpersonal communications in several ways. The majority (60%) believes that it relies too much on technology, while 71% believe social media is making communication less personal.

Despite these reservations, people are still using social media regularly. Some 28% of respondents claimed that they could only go one week without using social media, with a further 24% worried about just a few days. These figures compared to just 27% who felt they could live offline indefinitely.