Cell phones and Internet don't increase isolation: Study

by Ishita Sood - November 7, 2009

New York, November 7 -- According to a recent survey by the Pew Internet and American Life, people who use mobile phones and Internet are linked to a more diverse discussion network and have better social life.

Americans are not as isolated as previously reported in a 2006 study by the U.S. sociologists. The survey had argued that due to the advancements in technology, the Americans are becoming socially more isolated.

"When we examine people's full personal network... Internet use in general and use of social networking services such as Facebook in particular are associated with more diverse social networks," the researchers said in a statement.

"Our key findings challenge previous research and commonplace fears about the harmful social impact of new technology."

Research results
The telephone survey conducted in July and August this year consisted of 2,512 adults. It found out that since 1985 the social isolation has hardly changed.

Pew said that 6 percent of the entire U.S. adult population presently has "no one with whom they can discuss important matters or who they consider to be 'especially significant' in their life."

However, it had nothing to do with phones or the Internet. In reality, the organization's study found that cell phone users and active Web participation leads to a “larger and more diverse core discussion networks".

People’s discussions are 12 percent larger among the mobile phone users, nine percent larger for those who share photos online and for the ones who use instant messaging.

Users have a positive relationship with Internet
Most of the internet and mobile phone users have a positive relationship to networks and voluntary associations.

"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," the study found.

"However, we find some evidence that use of social networking services (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn) substitutes for some neighborhood involvement."

"Our survey results suggest that people's lives are likely to be enhanced by participation with new communication technologies, rather than by fearing that their use of new technology will send them into a spiral of isolation," they concluded.