Social media and its negative effects on society and relationships

I keep reading and hearing about how social media is affecting society. The general feeling is that while much of its influence is positive, the bulk of it is negative. People are worried mostly about its effects on relationships.

This article expresses some common concerns. I like the last line: "Too much comfort is isolating." It's ironic that all these new ways of making contact with people online seem to contribute to less real social interaction.

I haven't really gotten into social media. I just use Twitter a bit. But I am aware of some people who are into it in a big way. It astounds me just how many Facebook friends and Twitter followers they have, and how many messages they write.

It's the sheer size of these networks that cause the problem. Social media addicts can spend half of every day just maintaining contact with scores, if not hundreds, of people all over the world. So they end up having very little time to meet individuals in person. And even when they do and are having real conversations, they sometimes continue to interact online with others via their Blackberries! That's sad - as well as being annoying for the people they're with.