A Pew Internet & American Life study has refuted the idea that use of the Internet necessarily leads to decreased social isolation. Quite the opposite!, yelled a character in a Charles Dickens novel. It turns out that as people continually use things like Twitter, Facebook, and the like, they’re both expanding their social circle and increasing contact with said circle.
The old way of thinking was that spending all day on the computer would come at the expense of maintaining meaningful human contact. Can’t talk to someone about The Issues of the Day online, right? (Wrong, but whatever.)
Some bullet points, because those are easy to write:
• People who use mobile phones have a 12 percent larger discussion circle (people you talk to about Important Stuff) than non-mobile users
• The diversity of a person’s “core network” is 25 percent larger for mobile phone users, and 15 percent larger for basic Internet users
• People who use social networks tend to have “real” social networks that are more diverse than people who don’t
• Internet users are no less likely to have a chat with their neighbor than someone who doesn’t use the Internet all that much
You can read the full study here, or, like me, just be content with the executive summary. My interest in social networks died some time ago, but hooray for all the folks out there who keep bringing the thunder.
via Yahoo
Thanks to the internet, my social life has actually gotten much better. I meet new people all the time through online gaming and mainly sites like Myspace or Facebook. The internet reminds me sort of like a giant bar, except better in my honest opinion. It’s like a bar designed specifically for you.
Anyone who says that social networking is detrimental to anything is just talking out of their ass. Which is true, since at this point there isn’t enough research to say one thing or another. But, looking at myself and my friends and people I know, whether they are like me or not, they seem to all meet lots of people through the internet. So to me, it’s pretty obvious that it’s a good thing and not a bad thing. The problem lies in being intelligent really, since not everyone is. But meh, you don’t worry when people go to bars do you? Problem solved. As for children, that’s what they have parents for. If parents don’t know any better, then educate them.
East Side Dave……SHITDICK….
This research was also recently backed up by Stefana Broadbent in a talk showcased by TED:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lk5nU8FrXo