The latest issue of The National Psychologist (March/April 2011) features an article highlighting the psychological ramifications of social networking.
Recent research studying electronic communication has found that 54% of teens prefer text messaging their friends instead of speaking to them in person or on the phone. This would lead us to believe that people are lacking ordinary socialization, but 59% of Facebook users reported feeling more connected to people now and one in four Facebook users see friends face to face more than they did prior to joining the site.
Additionally, belonging to a social network like Facebook is positively correlated with online empathy but not offline empathy. Social support is correlated more strongly with online empathy than with real-life empathy. Notably, online empathy, real-world empathy and social support were positively correlated with spending more time with people face to face.
All of these studies indicate that people are communicating continuously and, thus, receiving a great deal of emotional support. Facebook and Twitter are available around-the-clock and if we’re in crisis or need validation, someone is always available to offer an opinion. As the author states, “It is like having your own therapist available 24/7.”
The problem with this, of course, is that people are receiving advice from all outlets. People are less inhibited in their online behavior and, consequently, may give advice that is questionable. Therefore, it has become essential for psychotherapists to address social media during a session. With a therapist, we must be able to wade through the negative and ill-advised comments in order to maintain healthy and helpful online socialization.
Read the article “Is social networking really social?” in the most recent issue of The National Psychologist.
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