Neglecting Relationships
Do researchers really believe that a majority of our society neglect real world relationships and obligations just to be on the Internet? I know a lot of people do, but I think a majority is stretching it. I would be interested in seeing some statistics for this topic.A longitudinal analysis, researched by Shklovki, Kraut & Rainie, concluded that there was substantial evidence that showed that the Internet does decline social interaction among individuals (2004). The amount that people would visit friends and family dropped from 70% to 49% due to new media. The reasons people gave for the lack of social interaction was that the Internet was a replacement for visiting friends and family. New media has allowed for there to be an easier form of communication, since there is no longer a geographical gap separating their communication.
Another study, researched by Nie and Erbring in 2000, indicated that people who used the internet heavily spent less time interacting with others face-to-face. Instead, they spent most of their time doing their work online at home, and away from family and friends. Following that study, NPR/Kaiser/Harvard’s Kennedy School found that 58% of Americans spent less time with family and friends due to the internet (2000).
Although these are just a few studies that prove the topic to be correct, there are still substantial problems with the research. It is impossible for the researches to study every person using the internet and their face-to-face interactions. Also, many people are estimating the time they spend on the Internet, and it may vary from week to week. Overall, the main idea is people need to be more aware of their personal relationships outside of the internet.
Kraut, Robert, Rainie, Lee, Shklovski, Irina. (2004). The Internet and Social Participation: Contrasting Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 10, Article 1.
Here is another article researching this topic:
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~hillygus/Wellmanchapter.pdf
posted by Kayla Bratton @ 9:54 PM
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