A survey of 1098 men from New Zealand and Australia is highlighting the influence of social media on home and work life.

The AVG Technologies AU/NZ snapshot survey shows 66 per cent of men who responded spend more than one hour connected to the internet as they communicate with friends, work, browse and play games.

Mount Maunganui Focus on Property property consultant David Baker says he uses his phone all the time to check social media. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

Solicitor at Lyon O'Neale Arnold Lawyers Nick Earl rarely uses his phone to check social media.

A further 26 per cent report email as the main reason for using their mobile phone and 23 per cent nominate texting and calling friends.

Mount Maunganui Focus on Property property consultant David Baker says he is on his phone all of the time when at home.

'I have push notifications for emails and Facebook.”

The 24-year-old says technology is causing a crossover between work and home life, but he only thinks it's a problem depending on people's situations.

'I'm in a flatting environment with people the same age; we grew up with technology, work follows me home and Facebook is the norm in communicating and keeping up to date with friends here and abroad.

'[It's a] different story if you're married and have young children because then there's defiantly a line to cross; families need real people time.”

Solicitor at Lyon O'Neale Arnold Lawyers Nick Earl says he would probably check his personal email account on his phone once a day.

'I rarely use my phone for social media.”

'I think technology makes a crossover between work and home life possible rather than causing it. I believe the extent of crossover could be influenced by a number of things such as the individual, the type of job they are in and employer expectations.

'I believe a person who arranges for access to their work emails/system at home is more likely to allow work to crossover into their home life. In the alternative, a person who chooses not to use technology to access their work emails/system after hours is unlikely to have a crossover between their work and home life.”

The 26-year-old says the expectation of employers may also cause a crossover of work and home life.

'If an employer provides its staff with work phones does it expect them to check and respond to emails after hours? Such a crossover was not technologically-possible 20 years ago.”

The AVG Technologies AU/NZ snapshot survey shows social media is also playing a role in the dating game, with one-third of single men, 35 per cent, using Facebook and Twitter to find out more about their dates – a much higher proportion than the 20 per cent of women who rely on the same source.

AVG Technologies AU/NZ security advisor Michael McKinnon says all sorts of strangers – from dates to prospective employers – view social media accounts, so it's worth taking a moment to think carefully before posting.

'AVG's local survey clearly shows the extent to which we now rely on our devices. With this deep online involvement, it is encouraging to see from the snapshot that 63 per cent of the men stay up to date with developments in internet security.

'Our message of ‘think before you click' seems to be getting some traction. Of the 28 percent that use the same devices for work and personal use, more than one-third (38 per cent) report they are being more cautious about what they download.”

Michael says it's disappointing that, with 40 per cent failing to use even the most simple protections, such as passwords to lock their devices, they aren't following through with consistent security regimes.