Social Isolation and New Technology
How the internet and mobile phones impact Americans’ social networks.
For much of the week, news of an email scam that compromised thousands of passwords animated the blogosphere. Late in the week, however, the focus shifted abruptly to Barack Obama’s surprising Nobel Peace Prize. On YouTube, meanwhile, a Letterman mea culpa drew the most hits.
A discussion that revolved around the critics of Barack Obama and his policies dominated the blogosphere last week—with the Tea Party protests and Jimmy Carter’s remarks about race as the main catalyst. On YouTube, an exhibition of public rudeness was the most viewed video.
For social media, it was a week of pick your platform. Twitter remained intensely focused on the situation in Iran. YouTube was overwhelmingly devoted to Michael Jackson’s passing. And the blogosphere was more divided overall but led with Sarah Palin’s surprise announcement.
Many seek a “just-in-time someone-like-me” but few post their own stories. E-patients are using the internet to compare their options, just as they do with other major decisions,[7.numoffset=”7″ Lee Rainie, Leigh Estabrook, and Evans Witt, “Information Searches That Solve Problems.” (Pew Internet Project: December 30, 2007) See: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/Reports/2007/Information-Searches-That-Solve-Problems.aspx] and to find the “just-in-time someone-like-me” who […]