Use Of The Internet Does Not Isolate People

It is only natural to think that the rising number of people who are on cellphones and the internet for hours a day would be less likely to interact with the people around them. Focusing on web surfing would seem to pull people away from their immediate surrounding.

The case for the internet as a method of social isolation had a hole poked in it by the esteemed Pew research organization. In a new survey, it found that “Some have worried that internet use limits people’s participation in their local communities, but we find that most internet activities have little or a positive relationship to local activity.” That may be counterintuitive, but it makes an odd sort of sense.

People who use cellphones are likely, in many cases, to make calls to people in their own communities, and that strengthens and not weakens local bonds. People actually become closer to those around them because of the ongoing contact. As Pew reports, “On average in a typical year, people have in-person contact with their core network ties on about 210 days; they have mobile-phone contact on 195 days of the year.” The use of the cellphone probably increases the ability of people to schedule direct time with those in their social group.

Use of the internet has a similar effect. Internet use  “is associated with engagement in places such as parks, cafes, and restaurants, the kinds of locales where research shows that people are likely to encounter a wider array of people and diverse points of view.”

While the research appears encouraging, may people still find themselves isolated, perhaps by choice, as they use new electronic and networking technology. Video game players may be the best example. Many of them spend hours play game both on consoles and online.

It is hard to imagine that a small tribe of people living in the Amazon does not have a greater amount of interaction among its members than people sitting in parks all day spending time on Twitter.

Douglas A. McIntyre