Do you keep your phone in reach when you sleep at night – just in case? Do you interact with ‘friends’ on Facebook and Twitter you have never met in real life? And do you feel anxious to turn your WiFi back on when your plane is about to land?
Well, you’re not alone: many people feel the need to be connected 24/7. But while cyber-reality is taking over our lives, some people are voicing their opinion against the widespread use of social media.
MIT Professor Sherry Turkle released a new social media book ‘Alone Together,’ in which she writes about the dangers of social media. She says the cyber worlds we are creating (with hundreds of acquaintances and very few real friends) are fake. She believes social networks are poor imitations of the real world: we only interact ‘virtual,’ with people we hardly know – and therefore, social media is isolating us from interacting with real friends.
The release of her book follows the death of Simone Back, a 42-year old woman who announced her suicide plan in a Facebook status update , and none of her 1000+ friends reached out to help her.
It’s no wonder that Turkle’s new book is creating quite a stirr online.
So, after reading her strong opinion on several news sites (here, here, and here), I decided to do some research myself. I understand her cyber-skepticism and the point she is trying to make, but I’m not convinced. After all, I basically owe my new job to social network connections, and I have made many real-life friends on social media.
I found a very interesting 2010 study by the Pew Research Center on this topic. The center asked 895 scientists, business leaders, authors, and tech developers about the effect of the internet on social relations. I was very pleased to find out that 85% said the web mostly has had a positive effect on their friendships, marriages, and professional relationships.
The study found social media has given people new ways to communicate. It’s easier to keep in touch with people in another city, country ,or overseas. Social networks also have made it easier to connect to people with the same interests, it’s impacting who people date and marry, and it has given consumers an easier way to connect to businesses (just tweet a complaint on Gatorade, and they’ll get back to you in a few minutes).
Now, don’t get me wrong. Social media certainly has its downsides. I’m surrounded with people who are glued to their laptops, blackberries and iPhones, and yes, those gadgets can be real birthday party downers.
But as with almost anything, I think social media is what you make of it. Do you mainly use it to grow virtual gardens and talk to virtual girlfriends, or do you use it to network, get to know people in your field of interest, and actually meet them in real life? If you mainly do the latter, I think social media results in the opposite of isolation!
