Why is Hungary Europe's Most Socially Networked Country?

Eva Bognar, CMDS' senior program officer has recently been quoted by OZY in their article about the most socially networked country in Europe: Hungary. According to a recent Eurostat report, 83% of Hungarian internet users are on social media, which is the highest rate in Europe, 20 percent above the EU average. Bognar thinks that rigid communist rule during the second half of the 20th century eroded the Hungarian people’s faith in official structures and public life and pushed them to rely more on their own private, non-digital social networks. “This is something social historians have [studied]: the importance of these personal circles, as opposed to institutions,” the Budapest-based researcher says. Read the article here.