Can e-social Networks be the Latest New Health Hazard?

We are all looking for ways to handle today’s difficult economic realities. As unemployment heads toward record levels many people are turning to the comfort of e-social networking instead of seeking opportunities for actual face-to-face social interaction.

In a recent blog, I mentioned how unemployment is hitting the male machismo right where it hurts. More and more unemployed people are conducting their job searches entirely online with little or no face-to-face reinforcement to the actual employer. Now, new research indicates that there may be long term health risks and higher rates of premature death among those who heavily rely on e-social networking rather than physical social interaction. Preliminary research suggests that e-social networking may not have very much social benefit after all, especially when it takes the place of meaningful literal social activity. Dr Sigman spells out his warning in the spring issue of Biologist, the journal of the Institute of Biology, and maintains that social networking sites have played a significant role in people becoming more isolated.

For many of us, the bombardment of email, FaceBook, MySpace , Twitter and the like can leave us too mentally weary to seek out face-to-face social activities. Perhaps using e-social networks to augment social interaction, rather than replace, would be a better way to go. In everything, there must be balance.

What we must guard against is the tendency to use e-social networking as a security blanket to avoid sharpening our social skills in the flesh. It can be all too easy to hide behind the keyboard to escape sometimes awkward social realities. However awkward face-to-face interaction may initially be, we learn from each encounter. By using our computers as a distancing object in our interaction with others, we reinforce this unhealthy comfort zone, become more sedentary and more socially isolated.

Are we using social networks as a substitution for social interaction? If so, we may be doing so at the expense of our health. Maybe we all need to get off the keyboard and find a healthy balance of social interaction the old fashion way.

Start monitoring your e-social time tomorrow, because we would really like to hear from you today! Comments, criticisms, manifestos and questions are always welcome.