Web, cellphone users are not isolated from reality

It's easy – and tempting – to believe that cellphones and the Internet are making Americans more isolated as they filter out those around them and focus on lighted screens, distant Facebook friends and LOL conversations.

But a new survey finds that this may not be true.

In fact, Americans who use such technologies have larger and more diverse "core discussion networks" than those who don't – and their networks also appear to be more diverse.

Though the study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds evidence that using social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn can indeed substitute for a measure of neighborhood involvement, Internet users in general are just as likely as others to visit with neighbors. Cellphone users, bloggers and those who use the Internet frequently at work are actually more likely to belong to a local volunteer group as well.

"It really adds a whole new social setting," says sociologist Keith Hampton of the University of Pennsylvania and one of the authors of the study.

But the survey also finds that although Facebook users know their neighbors as well as others, they're less likely to see them as companions or to rely on them for help in caring for themselves or a family member.

The survey is the first to examine how using cellphones and the Internet changes how people interact – and it suggests that Internet use doesn't keep people from public places such as parks, restaurants, libraries and cafes. Actually, the technology is associated with more widespread use of these places, though Hampton says it's unclear whether Internet use widens people's social circles or whether people with already-wide social circles simply tend to use the Internet more.

Either way, the findings may serve as a sort of salve to those who worry about growing social isolation in the USA. A widely read 2006 study by researchers at the University of Arizona and Duke University found that the proportion of Americans who have "no one with whom they discuss important matters" nearly tripled from 1985 to 2004. It also found that the average person's social network had shrunk by about one-third, from three people to two.

The Pew study, which posed the same questions, confirms the shrinking network but shows people who use cellphones and the Internet actually buck the trend.

For instance, respondents who have a cellphone have a "core discussion network" that is 12% bigger than those who don't. Those who use the Internet for instant messaging or to share photos have a network that's 9% bigger – and they're more likely to discuss important matters with people who aren't family.

The findings clearly stand in contrast to the notion that technology "might cause people to retreat from life," says Lee Rainie, who directs the Pew Internet project. Spending time with online social networks, he says, gives people "new powers to extend themselves and extend their interests."