A 2006 study on the evolution of social isolation found that people’s core discussion networks, or close confidants, had decreased in size since 1985. The report concluded that an unexpected social change had occurred since the ’80s and suggested that changes in communication and information technology may have been the culprit. These findings provided academic support toward the suspicion that the internet weakens social interaction by entices individuals out of the real world and into a lonely virtual one.
In response, the Pew Internet & American Life Project took on the task of looking into the connection between social isolation and advances in information technology. Their findings, which counter to the 2006 report, reveal no link between social isolation and the internet. Specifically:
We confirm that Americans’ discussion networks have shrunk by about a third since 1985 and have become less diverse because they contain fewer non-family members. However, contrary to the considerable concern that people’s use of the internet and cell phones could be tied to the trend towards smaller networks, we find that ownership of a mobile phone and participation in a variety of internet activities are associated with larger and more diverse core discussion networks.
The Pew report found that people who are more active online also tend to be more active in general. The ability for individuals to expand and maintain their larger social network through the internet can be utilized in other aspects of life. In other words, the internet can enhance social networking leading to improved work, school, and social situations. These findings are consistent with research on the benefits and opportunities provided by weak ties (extended social networks) articulated by Mark Granovetter.
By providing evidence that new technologies are not the social isolator, Pew has highlighted the benefits of the internet and the social cooperation of internet users. In other words, virtual associations are no more harmful or less genuine than those in real life. As one of the researchers, Lee Rainie, noted in a recent NPR’s On The Media segment:
Internet users and cell phone users are just as likely as everyone else to be contributors to their neighbors, to offer social support to the people in their communities that need it. It might be that they need less help, but they are certainly willing and able to offer as much help as everybody else to their local community.
The Pew report is great news for the internet and bad news for its skeptics. Most individuals have not severed their contacts in the real world in exchange for a computer but have found ways to enhance and expand their connections through the ease of online communication. I may opt to get a recipe off of foodnetwork.com instead of asking my neighbor, but the dinner I plan to cook and the guests that will enjoy it are real people, not cyborgs. You can be efficient, connected, and social without turning into a hermit.
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