A University of Texas research has suggested that Facebook is making us more social, albeit in ways unique to the digital age. The study, led by S. Craig Watkins, is the first to examine the distinct ways in which engagement with Facebook is evolving into a multi-faceted social experience. The findings indicate that Facebook is not supplanting face-to-face interactions among friends, family and colleagues. In fact, it believes that there is sufficient evidence that social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community. Watkins surveyed 900 current college students and recent college graduates across the country to find out what and with whom these Facebook users communicate.
Being a student myself I can see the positive effects of Facebook that Watkins’ study describes. But what happens to other groups in our society, like children and teens; people that are in a different phase of their life? How do they need to handle the challenges that social networking brings?
According to the national association of independent schools, the greatest motivating factor for children to use technology in grades 7 and up is to connect to others; to socialize. Their irresistible need to connect with their peers, coupled with the development of 24/7 accessible technologies, can make the use of sites like Facebook all consuming. There are concerns for children and teens today growing up in a world where they are wired 24/7 without a break. For many of the kids there is little or no "down time." Some have difficulty disengaging from their social life. For some, it even raises their anxiety level to be without their cell phone connecting them to Facebook for a few hours! This is not healthy for them.
I must admit I was tempted to create an own Facebook page for my daughter, she is three and a half years old. I thought about posting some pictures, document how she develops in life and giving her the login when she starts high school. After reading many articles about negative effects of Facebook on children, I am somehow happy that I have not done this so far. I can understand that children can get easily overloaded in real life. Knowing how to make virtual friends and communication is one thing but not learning how to do this in real life can be quite a problem in personal development. When should children start with Facebook? Is not enough done to protect and educate children and teens against the risks that come from using the internet and Facebook in particular?
Parents of today have not an easy job, some decades ago the task was to explain the story with the bees and flowers; today it is how to use the internet and Facebook. I believe that parents would do well in showing openness to everything their children are interested, in order to understand and educate their children adequately. If we want or not, our children will grow up with social networks; our task is to educate and support them.
Reading issues concerning Facebook and children, I became curious if there are also other situations or phases in life, where Facebook can be more harmful to our relationships than helping them.
A recent Nielson survey (The Nielsen Company, 2010) states that we are now spending about 25 percent of our time online on social networking sites and blogs, which is up from about 16 percent in July 2009. A recent Angus Reid survey found that Canadians may be ignoring their significant others to spend more time using social media sites. According to the survey, 75 per cent of Canadians admit that checking social media sites is the last thing they do at night. And when they wake up? Partners are still getting the cold shoulder, as reaching for an electronic device to check email is first on the to-do list. In Toronto and Montreal, a whopping 80 per cent of people grab their mobile phones rather than their partners first thing in the morning.
These are shocking numbers. While focusing on Facebook friends, will we loose contact to people not on Facebook in the long run? Does Facebook influence the life of couples or even harm relationships? Is there a reason for my partner to be jealous if I add my good looking ex-girlfriend as a friend on Facebook? What about ethical aspect of using Facebook? Personally I have a friend connection on Facebook to somebody who is dead already. How to deal with such a situation? How do my friends deal with an automatic Facebook suggestion to add my dead friend as a new connection? This sounds bizarre but these kind of problems are probably just the tip of the iceberg. I believe that Facebook can influence a big part of our lives and in the long run the government will intervene in order to regulate some of the issues mentioned.
Nevertheless to conclude I think social networking sites such as Facebook are enrichment for the humanity and a very efficient way to communicate. But considering especially some of negative aspects afore mentioned it can be said that the relatively new trend of social networking leaves many open questions and uncertainties. I could imagine that for the average human there are many things which are new and strange or feeling uncomfortable. Like with everything in life it is important to keep the balance. Facebook works for me by helping me keep alive all weaker relationships, some of which I might be able to revitalize in times to come. And that's good enough for me. However, I think we are just at the beginning of a networking trend and will rapidly develop further evolutions with every new technological achievement. Today it might be sharing the location and living in Facebook only, but how about tomorrow? How far away are we from living in The Matrix? ;)
Sources:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20101124/social-media-studies-101128/
http://www.nais.org/resources/article.cfm?ItemNumber=151505
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=292682
http://www.andhranews.net/Technology/2010/Facebook-strengthening-our-social-ties-Study-1247.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-haisha/children-facebook-addiction_b_788251.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/1126/1224284180450.html
1 comment:
Michael, you cover the issue thoughtfully, and even existentially (do FB friends ever really die?.) The question confronting us as managers is: what is your daughter's generation going to be like as colleagues/co-workers/employees/bosses? Will people do business only with "friends?" Or will we suffer friend overload? (If you don't know what your Dunbar number is, find out.)
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