Facebook Makes People More Social, And Perhaps More Isolated

Researchers at the University of  Texas claim they have conducted a survey that finds that “Facebook is making us more social, albeit in ways unique to the digital age.”  Online socialization, however, may come at the cost of face-to-face interaction which likely makes the contact more impersonal. The study is not entirely clear on that.

When asked to choose the top three activities most engaged in on Facebook, 66 percent of respondents listed “posting status updates,” 60 percent listed “posting comments/likes to my profile” and nearly half, 49 percent, listed “posting messages and other content to friends’ profiles.”’ Most of these digital activities may drive people away from normal human interaction because they are not part of normal adult conversation.

The major findings about how people spend time on Facebook, described in “Got Facebook? Investigating What’s Social About Social Media” are that young people spend a great deal of their time sharing photos and media. More than half of those young people surveyed used Facebook to play games. It is only when people get a college degree that they change their use to include traditional media like television.  The study was based on a survey of 900 current and recent college graduates each of whom has an average of 254 friends.

The study raises a number of disturbing questions, the most important of which is whether people who spend a great deal of time on Facebook become isolated. Many Facebook users, particularly those who are younger, appear to get media which is filtered by friends and family. This may lead to a crippled view of what goes on in the “real world.”

Facebook could help build relationships between young adults who may not be able to see one another regularly, if at all. But, this behavior appears to be much like that of video game addicts who stay in their homes for hours on their Wii players or PS3s. Cut off from normal human interaction, their worlds are seen through a lens which filters out much of the real universe.

Douglas A. McIntyre