The recession has resulted in an excessive number of Irish people "sexting" and dating online, according to a leading academic.

Professor Luke Gibbons, who recently joined NUI Maynooth as professor of Irish literary and cultural studies, says the public is now relying too much on Facebook and online dating.

Because people are not going out as much as they used to, "there is definitely an over-reliance on technology for intimacy in Ireland now", he said. "This is creating new problems in that using things like Facebook is opening yourself for everyone to see. It is as if, in recession, more and more people are being sucked into the online world and things like 'sexting', which is going to have a long-term effect on Irish culture."

Gibbons also claimed films like Once and In America are out of touch with Irish sexuality. "They don't accurately reflect exactly what is happening to the country sexually – what is going on on-screen in these movies has not quite caught up with actual developments in Ireland. We have some catching up to do." He also warned that Ireland is now entering a "cyberia".

Online relationships "are starting to displace those in the real world and now more than ever it is vital that we do not enter a new 'cyberia' as the Celtic Tiger retreats into hibernation".

Gibbons will deliver an inaugural speech tomorrow at NUI Maynooth outlining further how he believes cinema, TV, Facebook and Twitter have had an effect on Irish sexuality.

"Online transparency opens up private life to greater surveillance and monitoring, re-introducing the moral and thought police of a previous era in a new technological guise.

"Not least of the ironies here, at least where Irish culture is concerned, is that no sooner has a culture gotten rid of the repressive values of a bygone era, such as a culture of surveillance and squinting windows, than it re-instates them on the internet," he said.

Gibbons' talk will be part of a week-long conference taking part at the college which will see more than 250 scholars from around the world descend on the campus.