The Internet connects us with people we might otherwise never meet—and may be leaving us lonelier than ever.
A clergyman discovered the professional benefits of the Internet when he joined an online discussion group with colleagues in his denomination. There, he got advice on subjects for sermons and effective ways to deal with congregants.
But the clergyman also noticed that he was spending less time talking with his wife, whose verbal moral support had once been just as beneficial as—perhaps even more than—the advice he received from his online peers.
Psychologist Robert Kraut, PhD, of Carnegie Mellon University’s Human–Computer Interaction Institute, points to the case of the clergyman—whom he talked to as part of his research on computer use—as an example of the paradoxical role that the Internet has come to play in our lives.
The technology that has allowed people to keep in closer touch with distant family members and friends, to find information quickly and to develop friendships with people from around the world, is also replacing vital day-to-day human interactions. A computer monitor can’t give you a hug or laugh at your jokes. And some psychologists worry that the Internet’s widening popularity will lead to further isolation among a population that, although gravitating toward virtual communities in cyber-space, seems to have lost a genuine sense of belonging and connection.
In fact, Kraut and his colleagues, in a study to be released this month in American Psychologist, report that greater use of the Internet leads to shrinking social support and happiness, and increases in depression and loneliness. The study is the first to look specifically at the impact that Internet use has on general emotional well-being.
And the findings were unexpected, Kraut says, given that most people use the Internet for chat lines and e-mail, not just to isolate themselves in mounds of electronic information.
'We were surprised to find that what is a social technology, unlike the television, has kind of antisocial consequences,' Kraut says.
Filed Under: TECHNOLOGY
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