The Pew Research Center and “Antisocial Networking”

On April 20, 2010, the Pew Research Center* reported the following: - Half of American teenagers (ages 12-17) send 50 or more text messages a day. - One third of them send more than 100 a day. This study, cited in The New York Times, makes the point that teens are more likely to use their cellphones to text friends than to call them. The report says the question researchers have is whether texting leads to more connectedness and supportiveness, or whether the quality of the interactions is being diminished “without the intimacy and emotional give and take of regular, extended face-to-face time.” The report goes on to say that people who study relationships believe “close childhood friendships help kids build trust in people outside their families and consequently help lay the groundwork for healthy adult relationships.” Our question is, “Is technology bringing children closer or making them weaker in terms of face-to-face human contact skills?” Whatever the answer to this question, the issue is certain to play a key role in workplace relations going forward. - Will technology make adults more or less compatible with their workplace associates? - Should employers be aware of this potential actuality so as to take advantage of it, or will it take care of itself? The researchers have had their say, but what about others from the real world? What do you think about the issue of how technology is shaping our youths? (Responses to these questions are certain to be informed by the age of the respondent, and that factor will be significant too.) * “The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan ‘fact tank’ that provides information on the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take positions on policy issues.”