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OmniNerd = SocialNerd?
Rebuking stereotypes, long held myths, and the personal experiences of OmniNerd users, a new study shows that online activity enhances social contact rather than promoting isolation. According to the report, email and the Internet supplements rather than replaces offline communication.
‘The larger, the more far-flung, and the more diverse a person’s network, the more important email is,’ reports Jeffrey Boase, co-author of the study. For example, people who e-mail their friends and family at least once a week are 25% more likely to have phone contact. Internet users, on average, have 37 close friends instead of an average of 30 for non-Internet users. In addition to enhancing social networks, the researchers also discovered that 45% of people turn to their online network to help make major life decisions such as dealing with a major illness, choosing a school, making investment decisions, changing jobs or finding a new place to live.
If you are reading this, there is a good change you fall into the ‘Internet-user’ crowd. Have you found that the Internet has expanded your social circle and strengthened those relationships or has it hurt them? Have you used your ‘buddy list’ to make major life decisions like raising your children, picking a school, or building an underground sprinkler system?
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Computers do so many things by Brandon :: NR9 :: Show
I keep in touch with most of my friends/family online. Not only that, I also do most everything on the computer - writing, photos, music (both music files and getting guitar tab), study/research, reading news, etc. These things used to require a library, a slew of picture albums, a giant rack of CDs and a CD player, a typewriter, and at least 15 newspapers and magazines. Not only does a computer allow me to keep in touch with people, but lets me do so much more than I could before.
I consult the internet extensively before making decisions - even reasonably small ones. We recently bought a printer and I spent hours researching my options online. Without the internet, I'd just have gone to Best Buy or Office Depot and asked a salesman which one was for me - a process that is deficient on many levels. We decided on a Canon Pixma iP5200R and got just what we were looking for - high quality photos, wireless network capable, excellent text, reasonable paper and ink prices.
The odd thing, though, is how difficult it is to find quality information online sometimes. Blogs throw out information without regard. Websites of even very large companies provide little information or are difficult to navigate. Bias is rampant. Not surprisingly, the internet is becoming much like more traditional media - the difference being that this time the user has more control. As long as sites like O-Nerd remain and there are services like Google to help you find them, I'll go on using the internet for my information.