Questions have been raised about the social impact of widespread use of
social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. Do
these technologies isolate people and truncate their relationships? Or are
there benefits associated with being connected to others in this way? The
Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project decided to examine
social networking sites in a survey that explored people’s overall social
networks and how use of these technologies is related to trust, tolerance,
social support, and community and political engagement.

This new report finds that [4]Facebook users are more trusting, have more
close friends, are more politically engaged, and get more support from their
friends. Additionally, Facebook helps revive “dormant” ties with lost
connections—the highest proportion of Facebook friends is high school
classmates.
  Links:
    4. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks/Summary.aspx?utm_source=Mailing+List&utm_campaign=9ff6059792-SNS_Alert6_16_2011&utm_medium=email

This survey also showed that more people are using social networking sites
– the figure is now 47% of the entire adult population, compared with 26%
that was measured in our similar 2008 survey. Among other things, this means
the average age of adult social networking site users has shifted from 33 in
2008 to 38 in 2010.  Over half of all adult social networking site users are
now over the age of 35.

_Read or download the full report:
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks.aspx_?utm_source=Mailing+List&utm_campaign=9ff6059792-SNS_Alert6_16_2011&utm_medium=email
 [6]follow on Twitter | [7]friend on Facebook | [8]forward to a friend
_Copyright © 2011 Pew Internet, All rights reserved._

If you agree that social networks (on and off the internet) can be communities, this has relevance for all 3 of the lists I have sent this too. It's a strong, major report. Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:17:19 -0400 From: Pew Internet & American Life Project <info@pewinternet.org> To: Barry <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> Subject: New report alert: Do social networking sites really make us more social? Use of social networking sites is growing and that those who use these sites, especially Facebook users, have higher measures of social well-being. Is this email not displaying correctly? [1]View it in your browser. Don't want to receive any more emails? [2]Unsubsribe. Links: 1. http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=9ff6059792&e=99267d66c5 2. http://pewinternet.us1.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=79a7fe984b&e=99267d66c5&c=9ff6059792 Report: [3]Social networking sites and our lives Links: 3. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks.aspx?utm_source=Mailing+List&utm_campaign=9ff6059792-SNS_Alert6_16_2011&utm_medium=email Questions have been raised about the social impact of widespread use of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. Do these technologies isolate people and truncate their relationships? Or are there benefits associated with being connected to others in this way? The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project decided to examine social networking sites in a survey that explored people’s overall social networks and how use of these technologies is related to trust, tolerance, social support, and community and political engagement. This new report finds that [4]Facebook users are more trusting, have more close friends, are more politically engaged, and get more support from their friends. Additionally, Facebook helps revive “dormant” ties with lost connections—the highest proportion of Facebook friends is high school classmates. Links: 4. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks/Summary.aspx?utm_source=Mailing+List&utm_campaign=9ff6059792-SNS_Alert6_16_2011&utm_medium=email This survey also showed that more people are using social networking sites – the figure is now 47% of the entire adult population, compared with 26% that was measured in our similar 2008 survey. Among other things, this means the average age of adult social networking site users has shifted from 33 in 2008 to 38 in 2010. Over half of all adult social networking site users are now over the age of 35. _Read or download the full report: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-networks.aspx_?utm_source=Mailing+List&utm_campaign=9ff6059792-SNS_Alert6_16_2011&utm_medium=email [6]follow on Twitter | [7]friend on Facebook | [8]forward to a friend _Copyright © 2011 Pew Internet, All rights reserved._ You are receiving this email because you signed up for email alerts on our website. _Our mailing address is:_ Pew Internet 1615 L St NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036 [9]unsubscribe from this list | [10]update subscription preferences | [11]view email in browser Links: 6. http://www.twitter.com/pewinternet/ 7. # 8. http://us1.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=9ff6059792&e=99267d66c5 9. http://pewinternet.us1.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=79a7fe984b&e=99267d66c5&c=9ff6059792 10. http://pewinternet.us1.list-manage.com/profile?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=79a7fe984b&e=99267d66c5 11. http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=9ff6059792&e=99267d66c5