Teenagers' Internet socializing not a bad thing

Hanging out online helps teenagers develop "technological skills and literacy," a researcher on a new study says.
(From The New York Times)

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[gonumber2539]

Sorry, as a software designer and former engineer, I would say that using these online services is little different from using a house hold appliance and teaches nothing about how computers or the technology behind the services works. And neither do they teach social skills. The people I know who communicate online (rather than 'down the pub'), suffer from appalling written English, inabliity to remain focused and an obsession with their looks and/or size of their social circle. It is quality that counts, not quantity, and it is far better to spend your quality time with one or two quality people, than a large group who will also have their own groups, meaning that friendships are really very superficial. The best use of Facebook (and similar sites) was the original idea of finding those you lost contact with in the past. Re technology, the best way to learn real iT skills is to built a computer from scratch - and program it using assembler. That's how my lot started out! (6502, 6800 and Z80 to be precise!) :-)

[sanenazok]

OMG! I expect this soft of research will be getting plenty of money during the Obama admin. I'm with gonumber2539, this teaches kids as much about technology as a toaster does about the electrical grid.