NEW YORK (CNN) -- Internet users who spend even a few hours a week online at home experience higher levels of depression and loneliness than if they had used the computer network less frequently, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The result of the two-year study by Carnegie Mellon University on the social and psychological effects of Internet use at home surprised both researchers and sponsors, which included Intel Corp., Hewlett Packard, AT&T Research and Apple Computer.

"We were shocked by the findings, because they are counterintuitive to what we know about how socially the Internet is being used," Robert Kraut, a social psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon's Human Computer Interaction Institute, told the newspaper.

"We are not talking here about the extremes. These were normal adults and their families, and on average, for those who used the Internet most, things got worse," he said.

Even though participants in the study used inherently social features such as e-mail and chat rooms, they observed a decline in interaction with family members and a reduction in their circles of friends that directly corresponded to the amount of time they spent online, the Times reported.

The new study, title "HomeNet," suggests that the interactive medium may be no more socially healthy than older forms of mass media, and questions the nature of "virtual" communication and the disembodied relationship that are often formed in the vacuum of cyberspace, according to the newspaper.

"Our hypothesis is there are more cases where you're building shallow relationships, leading to an overall decline in feeling of connection to other people," Kraut was quoted as saying.

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9808/30/cyberstudy/

BUT

Feb. 10, 2004 -- The Internet doesn't lead to the social isolation that many believe. In fact, the Internet may be therapeutic for people facing emotional difficulties, a new study shows.


The finding dispels a popular belief that too many hours on the Internet causes psychological problems, writes lead researcher Mary V. Modayil, MSc, with Canada's University of Alberta in Edmonton.


Her study appears in the current issue of CyberPsychology & Behavior.


Indeed, several studies have found that Internet users tend to lose contact with their social environment, writes Modayil. Researchers have questioned the benefit of communities of people sitting alone, typing at computers networked with other computers.


However, other studies have suggested the potential benefits -- especially to those connected with support groups. "Such connections may be especially important for stigmatized persons who feel misunderstood within their own traditional social networks," she writes.


"Individuals often report that the Internet helped them to ease personal life-concerns," she writes.


Pre-existing Problems


In her study, Modayil surveyed 131 people who were Internet subscribers -- 64% of whom were male -- as well as a comparison group from the general population.


The Internet group had dramatically more psychological and social problems, she reports. This group was more likely to have been faced with traumatic experiences during childhood and was less likely to get social support as adults.


This suggests that some reasons for their difficulties had origins outside the Internet, she says.


Internet users showed higher levels of social engagement, like club memberships, than the control group. Yet they still showed a greater level of social isolation, she writes. Perhaps the apparent negative effects of Internet use had dissipated and some social benefits had been gained.


"It is quite conceivable that socially awkward individuals, who nonetheless crave social interaction, would gravitate to a medium that allows for myriad social interactions of varying degrees of intimacy but with the safety accorded by the controllable anonymity of electronic contact," she writes.


One limitation of her study: Those who chose to respond to her survey may not represent Internet users in general. Therefore, her study may overestimate the level of psychological problems among Internet users.


Nevertheless, "there is no evidence that Internet use is a cause of social and psychological ills, and, in fact it may, on balance be just the opposite -- a positive influence for many who would have done less well without it," writes Modayil.

http://www.webmd.com/content/articl...0000_1000_nb_04

*plays dramatic music*

__________________

Soundclick

no wonder my wrists are bleeding

__________________

LMAO, werd

__________________
R.I.P. EAZY-E