Comments on: Sociologists Find Americans Are Losing Their Friends

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 16:13:23 +0000

It’d be interesting to know how many of these people actually have the same amount of friends, or more people to talk to now with the Internet and technology advancing in general, but FEEL they have less, probably due to less in-person interactions now thanks to computers and cell phones. I notice that IS mentioned as a possibility at the end of the website, and it’s the first one I thought of because I have noticed it’s effect.

Also very interesting considering the promise of online networking sites like Myspace to give people greater networks.

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:54:20 +0000

Well, I can have deep political discussion here electronically with y’all, but unless you’re under deeper cover than I think, nobody here on this blog is a close friend of mine in the flesh. But what I was thinking when I wrote my previous post was about when I talk about pretty personal life issues ‘n’ stuff like that - you know, like (not real examples), I think I need to find a new job, or OMG I think I’m pregnant with twins, or I think my supervisor is running a porn site from the office what’ll I do? For me, I can discuss things at a certain level over the phone or via e-mail, but when it comes to the real down’n'dirty extended discussion about how to tell Mom she has to go into an assisted care facility or something like that, I prefer to do it in person.

By: silverside

silverside — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 02:47:52 +0000

Me too. Discussions with neighbors tend toward the familiar stuff–the weather, church, our kids, et.c I’m much more likely to get into an indepth political discussion with friends on-line. Most of the time, the people who congregate in various internet communities have already mastered the abc’s of the subject at hand. So you have the luxury of going straight to the more complicated analysis.

By: Stentor

Stentor — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 23:57:09 +0000

I’ve had the opposite experience to Lee — I often talk much more easily about deep stuff online than in person.

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 15:05:48 +0000

It’s not that weird of a distribution. It went from being a fairly sharply peaked distribution centered at 3 to being a long fat-tailed distribution with the largest value at 0, but dropping only slightly from 0 to 3, with some values above 3. Since there are no values below 0, the mean is shifted up from the peak of the distribution. See table 1 in the last link Rachel supplied for details.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 11:54:26 +0000

I think it’s possible that the substitution of electronic communication for face-to-face is having a negative impact on connectedness, because it’s much much easier and faster to talk about the really deep stuff in person, so that relationships become more superficial. OTOH, electronic communication makes it easier to reach out to more people more often, so it’s harder to be isolated. I have a number of close friends with whom I speak on the phone or e-mail at least weekly, but I maybe see them in person twice a year. The in-person times are the ones when the really deep stuff comes up, although some issues may be hinted at in our phone conversations and e-mails. Just my 2 cents.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 05:48:45 +0000

As Techdirt points out, the whole survey may be mooted by poor questions:

the researchers admit, one reason this could be true is the way the survey was worded. They asked about how often people “discuss” important matters with friends — but admit that many people may not consider emails or instant messages “discussions.”

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 03:02:27 +0000

How can the mode drop from 3 to 0 while the mean drops from 3 to 2? That would seem to indicate a very weird data set, where suddenly lots of people have no friends while a few people have tons of friends, preventing the mean from dropping all the way to the basement.

It doesn’t reflect my own experience, which has been a steadily expanding circle of acquaintance- and friendship. Assuming the measured phenomenon is real, I’d give some credit/blame to the Internet - you can have a lot of “friends” without the real costs of having friends, and for many people that may be as much or more emotionally satisfying, at least over the short run.

By: FeministBlogosphere

FeministBlogosphere — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

06/28 Sociologists Find Americans Are Losing Their Friends

By: feminist blogs

feminist blogs — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

social networks are decreasing. The primary proponent of this theory is political scientist, Robert Putnam, whose book Bowling Alone, describes the general decline in civic engagement. […] Continue reading at Alas, a blog … posted10:55 pm at Alas, a blog

By: Rainbow's Ramblings

Rainbow's Ramblings — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

because love is trusting and the patriarchy would prefer women to be afraid of men. current mood: [IMG ] working current music: Rethinking the Military ~~ CBC Radio Podcasts (3 comments | comment on this) 12:07 pm - Link Farm Sociologists Find Americans Are Losing Their Friends