Researchers there gamely tracked the social habits of virtual lifers and concluded that - get this- for our physical health and psychological well-being, humans need actual face-to-face contact (I know, it sounds gross). Ironically, the study finds that the more time we spend amassing virtual friends, the fewer "real" friends we have. (What's a "real" friend you might ask? I like to think of it as someone who will sit right next to you in the blue light of your BlackBerry, and never, ever ask you whose e-mail you're reading.)A great read. But hmm, makes you kind of feel like a dork, huh Facebook fanatics? :)
Over the past two decades, the amount of time the British spend with one another - just chatting, interacting, eating crackers, and whatever else British people do when they're staring at each other's dark brown teeth - has fallen from six hours a day to two hours a day.
Now let's just set aside the larger question: Would YOU want to spend more than two hours a day with British people? .... Still there's something to the report that I can't shake, some truth it sheds on modern life, virtual and otherwise. Because if you're honest and look around you, there are signs everywhere that reality is losing its grip on reality - in the way, say, that electronic friend "acquiring" has begun to stand in for intimacy, or in the larger ways we've become unthinking about our online existence.... Even an 80-year-old woman I know has lately taken to telling everyone "Google it" whenever she means "I'm telling you the truth." She's also a Limbaugh-loving Republican, so now she ends every argument by saying things like "Nancy Pelosi is a terrorist - Google it!"
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
"If you spend a lot of time on Facebook and other social networking sites, chances are you're alienated, lonely, and quite possibly demented."
To further emphasize why I love reading GQ, here's a little snippet from a recent article. The author starts off discussing a new report from a study done by a British journal:
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9 comments:
Actually, I now feel more justified in the fact that I don't spend even an hour a week on facebook, while Andrew spends at least an hour a day. Sadly, though, he still has more friends than I do, whether you're counting virtual or face to face.
And what's that author have against the British. I find them rather funny and pleasant to be around.
A very funny article, and so the question remains, which am I? Alienated, lonely or demented? I think I'll ponder that while I go check out my wall on Facebook.
I think I remember telling you I thought it was silly to follow blog's of people in my ward. But you felt that you actually knew them on another level because you do. Hmm. I still would rather chat in person. But, truth is, you will always have more friends than I do. I think I go through an enjoyment phase with these things and then realize they don't fulfill...it happened with blogging and now it's happening with FB.
Spell check! "Even and 80-year-old..."
With love,
Zac
Oooh Zac, you got me! Thank, you. Bet you've been waiting like 21 years to get your beat your auntie in a spelling war!
Thanks, Jen! Now I know the reason that I cannot follow Facebook is NOT because I am technically-challenged, or behind-the-times, but because I am NOT alientated, I am never lonely, and I am definitely NOT demented! Yeah!!! I now have a study to prove it!!!
Awesome post. What a humorous study but too true!
Well I can say I hardly spend anytime on FB. I have always been a bit of a loner though. All I need is a few good friends. I get overwhelmed with too many people to keep track of. I must argue with the article on the isolation issue - I would never have been able to be a part of your daily life with out your blog! So that is the opposite of isolation. Many people check your blog and share their thoughts. Does that feel isolating?
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