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Tuesday, August 07, 2001
By Deborah Mendenhall, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
People who spend a lot of time on the Internet may not feel so lonely and isolated after all.
Three years ago, Carnegie Mellon University researchers captured national headlines with findings that suggested that the Internet, a then-new tool designed to enhance communication, actually took people away from their families and caused them to feel more alone.
But continued studies by the same interdisciplinary group of CMU researchers now show that courting the Internet doesn't cause people to become alienated or detached. In fact, results showed that the Internet has a sort of "wherever you go, there you are" kind of effect.
In other words, extroverts tended to feel good about themselves when they used the Internet, probably because they had spent time online chatting with friends. Introverts, on the other hand, ended up feeling lonelier, possibly because they used the computer for solo endeavors such as entertainment.
All users, however, tend to feel more stressed. The reason isn't understood yet, but it may be that computer use is one more thing people try to cram into overburdened schedules, said Robert Kraut, a social psychologist at CMU who studies human-computer interaction.
The latest findings, which have been discussed at some scientific meetings and will be published in the Journal of Social Issues next year, are from a follow-up of the original study subjects and from new research on a different group.
The group's findings are in keeping with the majority of recent studies that examine how computer use affects our interactions with other people, said John Robinson, director of the Internet Scholars Program at the University of Maryland. Most studies have shown social interaction stays pretty much the same for computer users.
"If you are an outgoing person, you will be looking to increase those active opportunities, and others just aren't into socializing," he said.
"I think you are born with talents, abilities and aptitudes and, generally, what technology does is allow you to develop in ways you are already moving."
That's in stark contrast to Kraut's first study, which was released in 1998. It showed that Internet surfing interfered with the user's social involvement and psychological well-being. It drew fire from a variety of sources who questioned everything from the methodology to the counterintuitive results.
In a second look at original study subjects, Kraut found that the feelings of loneliness and isolation they expressed seem to have dissipated.
As for the new group -- 466 people who bought either computers or televisions in 1998 and 1999 -- the more they used computers, the more integrated they were with others, the better their psychological well-being and generally, the more positive their moods.
Kraut doesn't think the new evidence contradicts his first study.
"I think what it means," he said, "is the world has changed."
When the first study began in 1995, fewer than 20 percent of the population had Internet access, so the chances were poor that friends and relatives also would be online, he explained.
"In 2000, nearly 60 percent of the population is online and if you want to talk to someone today, it could be your best friend in high school or it could be your mother," he said.
One puzzling finding is that Internet users tend to feel harried.
"Overall, the more people used the Internet, the more they report a wide range of daily life stresses from having problems with their bosses, to their cars breaking down, to noise in the neighborhood," Kraut said. "We can't pin down why."
Many of the findings can be generalized to Internet users around the globe. But some may be of particular interest locally: Kraut found that the more people were online, the less informed they were about local news and the less committed they were to living in Pittsburgh.
"One possibility is that the Internet is a distance-dissolving technology and if you are getting your news from the Internet, you lose that local focus," he said. "And as for where they want to live, it might be that they were exposed in a more detailed way to the rest of the world, like opening up a window."