Facebook Uncovers Benefits of Traditional Social Networks

 The phenomenal surge in popularity of Facebook, Myspace, the profligacy of smaller, more socially specific networks like Myhamptons have encouraged social scientists to examine the effects of traditional social networks on their members. What they are finding is startling. Apparently the activities of members within a network directly affect the activities of the other members. Thus obese people don't just hang out together more often because they are more comfortable with each other. Its not a matter of like minded people attracted to each other but rather a thin person in a network of a majority of obese people will begin to become obese. Of course its not absolute but tendential. Similiarly smokers tend to stay closer to other smokers as people in the network begin to quit there is a greater chance for others to quit as well. According to the New York Times:

Another intriguing -- and disturbing -- finding was that as more people quit, the remaining smokers tended to wind up on the edges of society, with fewer and fewer social connections.

"In 1971, you have this crowd of people, and smokers are dispersed among them. But eventually by 2003, the smokers have been pushed to the periphery of the crowd," Christakis said.

That indicates that the remaining hard-core smokers are more socially isolated, which by itself has been shown by other research to have negative health consequences.

"So at the same time we are trying to help smokers to quit, we have unintentionally been hurting them by wreaking havoc on their social lives," Fowler said. "One of the implications is it's harder to reach smokers. Increasingly, they are huddled together in groups that are not connected to other people who don't smoke."

The findings could also have implications for the obesity epidemic.

"If we use these norms to fight the obesity epidemic, we may, in the process of stigmatizing the state of being overweight, further stigmatize obese people," Fowler said. "Smoking is an example of how we can create problems at the same time we solve others."

Social Networks changing the world!!!!

 

www.myhamptons.us - kara