Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?

New research suggests that for all our connectivity, humans have never been more lonely or narcissistic. Worse yet, these same studies show that all of this lack of face-to-face contact is making us mentally and physically sick. Loneliness is a hard thing to define. It is not the act of being alone, but there is a connection. We meet fewer people. We gather less. And when we gather, our bonds are less meaningful and less easy. While the research does not support the idea that Facebook itself makes us lonely, it does perpetuate the usual social network. The popular kids are popular, and the lonely skulkers skulk alone.

Changing the Way People Consume Content

A recent survey shows that nearly 48% of America's 112 million mobile phone users now regularly use their devices to access media content, other than voice or text, and that number will tip the halfway mark by the end of the year. While conventional computers are still the big winner when it comes to Web traffic with a whooping 93%, “mobile devices" - especially smartphones and tablets - now account for nearly two-thirds (64.4%) of all non-personal computer-connected Web access, and are growing fast. Among those mobile devices, tablets are the fastest growing segment and tablet devices now represent 28.1% of all non-computer traffic to the Web with Apple's iPads owning the dominant portion (97%) of that market.

Facebook the Night Away

Almost one-sixth of the time that Americans spend online is spent on Facebook, according to Citigroup Interwebs analyst Mark Mahaney. That compares with 11% for Google and 9% for Yahoo! I have been jesting with friends lately that Facebook is going to take over the world. I hope this is one prediction that does not come to pass. I don’t want my searches monitored any more than they are now, and I say “thanks, but no thanks” to more directed advertising. Frankly I’d like to keep what little privacy I have left intact.

Opening Web Access at School

Organized by the American Association of School Librarians as an offshoot of Banned Books Week, the first Banned Websites Awareness Day recently took place. The biggest concern? As more and more schools embrace online technologies, there are schools that block much of the Internet. Some librarians complain that entire categories of Web sites have been blocked, including those that involve games, violence, weapons, even swimsuits making it hard to conduct research. Others comment that it is their job to teach students the safe use of the Internet, which is impossible to do if they can’t get to those sites. What do you as a parent think? How do you handle web access at home? Should it be the same at school?

Wireless Internet Use Multiplying

An April 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that 56% of adult Americans have accessed the Internet by wireless means, such as using a laptop, mobile device, game console, or MP3 player. The most prevalent way people get online using a wireless network is with a laptop computer; 39% of adults have done this. One-third of Americans (32%) have used a cell phone or Smartphone to access the Internet for emailing, instant-messaging, or information-seeking. This level of mobile Internet is up by one-third since December 2007, when 24% of Americans had ever used the Internet on a mobile device. On the typical day, nearly one-fifth (19%) of Americans use the Internet on a mobile device, up substantially from the 11% level recorded in December 2007. That’s a growth of 73% in the 16-month interval between surveys.