Study: Web, cellphone use isn't linked to social isolation

According to a Pew Research Center report released Wednesday, the widely-held belief that cellphones and the Internet are making Americans socially isolated is, in fact, not true.

Latest study debunks claims of link between online activities and isolation
It was believed for long that the American Internet and phone users are shrinking their social ties day by day because they separate themselves from those around them and stick to their computers, distant friends via social network sites and text messaging.

But the novel study carried out by the Pew Center and the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication presents some opposite results.

The report suggests that people who use the Internet, instant messaging, cellphones, photo sharing sites and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter tend to have larger and more diverse core of close confidants than those who do not use the modern tools of technology.

"All the evidence points in one direction," said University of Pennsylvania sociologist Keith Hampton, also lead author of the report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. "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," added Hampton, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Pew study -- "Social Isolation and New Technology" goes against what a research earlier this decade suggested: that by embracing online activities like e-mail, blogging and using online hangouts like FaceBook people have began isolating themselves from close human connections.

Internet use isn’t isolating Americans
The authors said key findings of the study suggest that the new technologies do not isolate people from one another. They said their study is the first that actually explores the connection between technology use and social isolation, and they did not find any negative connection between the two.

The study team says their findings challenge previous research and “commonplace fears about the harmful social impact of new technology".

"There is a tendency by critics to blame technology first when social change occurs," Hampton said.

“It turns out that those who use the Internet and mobile phones have notable social advantages," said Hampton. "People use the technology to stay in touch and share information in ways that keep them socially active and connected to their communities."

"It really adds a whole new social setting," Hampton added.