The Impact of Social Networking on Society

Anonymous Pingu writes "The latest edition of New Scientist has a series of features on social networking. These include an analysis of the impact on our social attitudes by Sherry Turkle, a feature on the possible privacy implications of using sites like MySpace and Friendster, and a short science fiction piece by Bruce Sterling. It's certainly interesting that so many people post very revealing stuff about themselves on these sites."

Re:Text of Short Story

[ThatsNotFunny]

You don't need to register, even for free, to access this on their site. But thanks for empowering my laziness! :)

Re:The Social Stigma

[msaavedra]

Where do we get the social stigma associated with "meeting someone online"? ...Whenever something arises that allows us to interact with people, it's usually a good thing. But tell your parents that you met someone online and you're dating them -- hell tell anyone -- that and more often than not, they'll disapprove.

I think this stigma is from people's natural tendency to fear the unfamiliar, and is fading fast. I met my girlfriend online, and everyone I know has been supportive. I think they'd be more suspicious if I met her in a bar. The internet just seems like a normal place to meet someone these days. In fact, my dad met his wife online, and my girlfriend's mom met her husband online too. Obviously, neither of our parents disapprove of online dating.