YALSA blog: the larger social effect of the Internet

February 28, 2011

Now that the YALSA blog’s 28 Days of Teens and Tech is drawing to a close, I thought it might be interesting to pull back a little and look at the larger social effect of the Internet on society. There are two reports by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in particular (one on social isolation and new technology and another on the social side of the Internet that can tell us how the Internet has changed our social lives.

I’ve summarized some of the findings of those reports on the YALSA blog.

I tend to be pretty excited about the Internet and new technology, but I know there are definitely people–and studies–that worry about what the Internet is doing to society and to individual people and their ability to socialize and develop and be part of our wider society. But I think that both of these reports help to counter those impressions. While our networks of trusted discussion partners may be shrinking on average, Internet users aren’t seeing that negative outcome, and some Internet users are even experiencing more diverse social networks. The Internet lets groups and clubs reach more people and have more of an impact on the world, and Internet users are, on average, more likely to be involved in those groups and clubs and to feel pride in what they do with those groups. That’s news I like to hear!

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Tags: pew reports, social networking, technology, yalsa blog