Comments on: Is Twitter making you feel less lonely?

Research suggests that Americans are more lonely than perhaps at any time in their history. Might inventions such as Twitter serve to fill this painful psychological vacuum?

[jamshid]

I can't believe I'm quoting the pope, but this was spot on:

"If the desire for virtual connectedness becomes obsessive, it may in fact function to isolate individuals from real social interaction while also disrupting the patterns of rest, silence and reflection that are necessary for healthy human development."

I wonder if this Onion article inspired him:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/facebook_friend_apparently
Facebook Friend Apparently Dead Now

[eye-shuh]

These types of stories continue to amuse me. It's become very obvious the older generation, the pre-internet in elementary school generation, has no idea what to make of social networking.

So, they go on to explain it in ridiculous ways as shown above.

It's not about being lonely. Twitter is not some kind of neurological need.

It's a silly internet application that allows you to share little pieces of information you find interesting or funny or something you need advice on.

The limit of 140 characters gives it a sort of whimsy that sets it apart from other apps.

Really, it's just an age gap thing.

[pentest]

Online social networking is a contradiction. Total nonsense

[psudomorph]

Eye-shuh, It feels like you are making a distinction where there isn't one. Just because twitter is silly and whimsical doesn't mean it isn't fulfilling a need also.
Ask yourself the question "what do I get out of doing stuff on twitter?".
If the answer is "nothing", then why are you on it? If the answer is anything else, then twitter is fulfilling some sort of need. Even the need for funny tidbits is still a need.

To me it makes a lot of sense that twitter is fulfilling a lot of people's "need to be heard". It doesn't matter if what they are saying is funny or interesting, or boring, or important, it is still satisfying people's need to be heard.

On the other hand, I agree with eye-shuh that twitter probably isn't about being "lonely", at least not for the most part. I think for the most part it's just a faster more effective way to "be heard". Before twitter, if you thought of something interesting you might turn to your friend or the person next to you and tell them, nowadays, you twitter it. Twitter is just the electronic evolution of that type of interaction.

The increased loneliness of the modern world is an interesting phenomenon, and twitter is an interesting phenomenon, but I'm not sure the two are as related as it might seem at first.
I guess what it would come down to is how many people on twitter use it as their *sole* source of connectedness, and how many people instead use it to bring themselves and their friends closer together. If the number of people who *depend* on twitter as their confidant is very high, *then* you might be able to report that twitter actually is about being lonely.