[Infowarrior] - PIP: Social Isolation and New Technology

[Richard Forno]

Press Release: Social Isolation and New Technology
Nov 4, 2009

http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2009/Social-Isolation-and-New-Technology.aspx#
(Washington) People who use modern information and communication  
technologies have larger and more diverse social networks, according  
to new national survey findings that for the first time explore how  
people use the internet and mobile phones to interact with key family  
and friends.

These new finding challenge fears that use of new technologies has  
contributed to a long-term increase in social isolation in the United  
States.

The new findings from the Pew Internet & American Life Project show  
that, on average, the size of people’s discussion networks – those  
with whom people discuss important matters– is 12% larger amongst  
mobile phone users, 9% larger for those who share photos online, and  
9% bigger for those who use instant messaging. The diversity of  
people’s core networks – their closest and most significant confidants  
– tends to be 25% larger for mobile phone users, 15% larger for basic  
internet users, and even larger for frequent internet users, those who  
use instant messaging, and those who share digital photos online.

The survey was conducted by researchers from the University of  
Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, led by Keith N.  
Hampton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Communication and the Pew  
Internet Project.

The survey also probed larger issues related to the extent of social  
isolation in America: At one level, the results challenge previous  
work. The Pew Internet survey found that Americans are not as isolated  
as has been previously reported and social isolation has hardly  
changed since 1985. Only 6% of the adult population has no one with  
whom they can discuss important matters or who they consider to be  
“especially significant” in their life.

At another level, the findings 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 widespread speculation that the new technology is tied  
to shrinking social networks and declining network diversity, the Pew  
Internet study finds that ownership of a mobile phone and  
participation in a variety of internet activities are associated with  
larger and more diverse core discussion networks.

“There is a tendency by critics to blame technology first when social  
change occurs,” argued Prof. Keith Hampton, the lead author of the Pew  
Internet report, Social Isolation and New Technology. “This is the  
first research that actually explores the connection between  
technology use and social isolation and we find the opposite. It turns  
out that those who use the internet and mobile phones have notable  
social advantages. People use the technology to stay in touch and  
share information in ways that keep them socially active and connected  
to their communities.”

Here are some of the other key findings in the Pew Internet report:

	•
Some have worried that internet use limits people’s participation in  
their local communities, but the Pew Internet report finds that most  
internet activities have little or a positive relationship to local  
activity. For instance, internet users are as likely as anyone else to  
visit with their neighbors in person. Cell phone users, those who use  
the internet frequently at work, and bloggers are more likely to  
belong to a local voluntary association, such as a youth group or a  
charitable organization.  However, we find some evidence that use of  
social networking services (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn)  
substitutes for some neighborhood involvement.
	•
Challenging the assumption that internet use encourages social contact  
across vast distances, this study shows that many internet  
technologies are used as much for local contact as they are for  
distant communication.
	•
Internet use does not pull people away from public places. Rather, use  
is associated with frequent visits to places such as parks, cafes, and  
restaurants, the kinds of locales where research shows that people are  
likely to encounter a wider array of people and diverse points of  
view. Indeed, internet access has become a common component of  
people’s experiences within many public spaces. For instance, of those  
Americans who have been in a library within the past month, 38% logged  
on to the internet while they were there, 18% have done so in a café  
or coffee shop.
	•
People’s mobile phone use outpaces their use of landline phones as a  
primary method of staying in touch with their closest family and  
friends, but face-to-face contact still trumps all other methods. On  
average in a typical year, people have in-person contact with their  
core network ties on about 210 days; they have mobile-phone contact on  
195 days of the year; landline phone contact on 125 days; text- 
messaging contact on the mobile phone 125 days; email contact 72 days;  
instant messaging contact 55 days; contact via social networking  
websites 39 days; and contact via letters or cards on 8 days.
	•
Social media activities are associated with several beneficial social  
activities, including having discussion networks that are more likely  
to contain people from different backgrounds. For instance, frequent  
internet users, and those who maintain a blog are much more likely to  
confide in someone who is of another race. Those who share photos  
online are more likely to report that they discuss important matters  
with someone who is a member of another political party.
	•
While participation in traditional social settings, like  
neighborhoods, voluntary organizations, and public spaces, remain the  
strongest predictors for the overall diversity of people’s social  
networks, internet use, and specifically use of social networking  
services like Facebook, are also associated with knowing more people  
from a wider variety of backgrounds.
“All the evidence points in one direction,” said Prof. Hampton.  
“People’s social worlds are enhanced by new communication  
technologies. It is a mistake to believe that internet use and mobile  
phones plunge people into a spiral of isolation.”