Social Networks: Growth, Isolation and Sucking the Time Away From Us
“As the internet has become ubiquitous, faster, and increasingly accessible to non-technical communities, social networking and collaborative services have grown rapidly, enabling people to communicate and share interests in many more ways” (boyd & Ellison, 2007). Social networking allows the use of: instant chat, uploading of photos and videos, blogging, interactive games and so on. However, all of these services consume our time, one way or another. Debate has risen that social networks are leading us to social isolation. Reports also have shown that users are spending more time online, leaving little time for other activities. This paper argues that while social networks are growing and becoming increasingly time intensive, social isolation however does not occur.
