Don’t folks love these studies that make them hang on to their seats! It’s a research murder mystery turned cliff hanger! The reality is no one knows who “dunnit”! People can guess all they want. Parents can play it safe and deactivate accounts without any real basis, but it might make them feel better. The truth is we won’t know unless further study is completed some day in the future after more data is collected and described. Then and only then can some patterns be looked at and then perhaps a study looking at causation could be undertaken. And that will be a long time from now.So what are parents to do? If parents have been vigilant about how much time children spend on technology whether computer, television, video games, or the internet, keep up the good work. If parents have not been monitoring time spent with technology, then maybe some consideration is needed. But parents should do so not because they are fearful of lower grades. Instead, parents should monitor social networking because, done in excess, it keeps teens from doing other activities that are probably better for them in the long run in achieving a balanced life and true learning success.
Deanya Lattimore on 26 Aug 09Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation1 Sebastián Valenzuela 1 Namsu Park 1 Kerk F. Kee 1 1 University of Texas at Austin 1 Earlier versions of this study were presented at the 2008 International Symposium on Online Journalism and the 2008 APSA Preconference on Political Communication. For intellectual and financial support on this research, we thank Sharon Strover. Helpful comments at various stages were provided by Jeff Gulati and Talia Stroud. Corresponding author: Sebastián Valenzuela [sebastianvalenzuela@mail.utexas.edu] ABSTRACT This study examines if Facebook, one of the most popular social network sites among college students in the U.S., is related to attitudes and behaviors that enhance individuals' social capital. Using data from a random web survey of college students across Texas (n = 2,603), we find positive relationships between intensity of Facebook use and students' life satisfaction, social trust, civic engagement, and political participation. While these findings should ease the concerns of those who fear that Facebook has mostly negative effects on young adults, the positive and significant associations between Facebook variables and social capital were small, suggesting that online social networks are not the most effective solution for youth disengagement from civic duty and democracy.
