“Much has been written about the increase in loneliness and isolation that has accompanied the internet. This is said to be caused by shallow online friendships which are no substitute for genuine relationships. Being exposed to the heavily curated lives of others on social media has also been found to create feelings of depression and anxiety in some people.
A recent academic study provides a more nuanced view, revealing that rather than leading to misery, the internet has made people happier. This is especially the case for the elderly and those with health problems who would otherwise have limited contact with a wider community. “
I’ve long argued that the studies showing people who use the internet were more likely to be depressed were not catching the whole picture. Clearly it’s not just internet usage, but how we are connecting with others online that is impacting our mental health. I like that this study shows us that there are people out there using the internet to connect to others and improve their lives.
Reading this latest article about the future of the mobile web, Smartphones: The silent killer of the Web as you know it, I’m struck by the difference between how young people interact with the web, and how us old veterans do it. Young people don’t use tablets because they don’t see them as necessary for…
I’ve gone on before about how often people are willing to share or like something on social media without even reading it, just based on the headline. I’ve argued that it can make you look very bad when the article is not what you thought it was, Now we have a study that shows that…
This is not remotely surprising. First off, because Facebook owns Instagram, they already have access to the same technology that social network uses to allow for users to create stories that only stick around for 24 hours. Secondly, Facebook and Twitter have been losing market share among young people to Instagram and SnapChat specifically because…
This is interesting, and kind of goes against their own interests, so I’m suspicious, but I also think turning off FB notifications for a set time might be a good idea. “To access Quiet Mode, you go to your settings menu on Facebook and click Your Time on Facebook. Then you go to Manage your…
It’s cool if your company wants to provide an assistance program or pay for access to an app that will help with meditation, etc. Good for them. But, if the source of your mental health issues is the day-to-day stress of working in an understaffed, toxic, environment, for far less money than you’re worth, and they won’t address that? How much do they really care?
Fixing that is going to require a lot more, as the article below points out. How many organizations are willing to make those kinds of changes?
I thought this look at how the news about someone’s death spread, and then became questionable, is very interesting. The thing that jumped out at me, which I’ve talked about before, is the likelihood that by linking to an old article about the person’s life, suddenly the tweet became more legitimate in some eyes due…
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