One in ten users of Facebook have received abusive or insulting messages, a new study has revealed.
According to the research by Global Market Insite, ten percent of Facebook users have experienced someone posting insulting or abusive messages on their wall, or sending insulting, abusive or threatening private messages.
The study claims to reveal the extent to which Facebook and Twitter are being used to send public or private 'anti-social' messages, the Telegraph reports.
Most users, 61%, however say it has happened just once or twice, while eight per cent claim to receive 'anti-social' messages about once a month, and three percent receive them a few times a month.
A further three per cent say they have received more than five such messages in the past year.
In 62% of cases, the insult came from people the recipient knows in real life, but 27% said the perpetrator wasn't even on their Facebook friends list.
According to the paper, on Twitter only five per cent reported threatening, insulting or abusive tweets, although this is likely to be because half of all Twitter users say they have an account merely to follow others.
Only three percent of respondents say that they have been asked to delete a tweet, the report added.
