Yet another study telling me to get out more.
Live Science, reporting on an article in last months issue of American Sociological Review, writes that the social network of Americans is diminishing. Sliding from a reported average of 2.94 close confidants in 1985 to 2.08 in 2004 respondents of the survey also indicated that ties to family grew stronger over the same period.
These figures got me thinking about the book Bowling Alone and the notion that as citizens and neighbors we are disengaging and retreating into tighter knits groups. In the book, Robert D. Putnam presents data that demonstrates how over a twenty-five year period community interaction and civic participation has declined markedly. What’s the outcome of this trend? Engagement breeds familiarity which in turn can yield understanding while the move towards smaller more clannish social structures can erect barriers to communication and potentially erode the bonds necessary to hold communities together.
My feelings are conflicted in so much as I have spent much of my meatspace existence with only enough close friends that could be counted on one hand with fingers to spare; my online life has been markedly different. Through my own website as well as ones like Though Mechanics I have been able to develop relationships with people all over the world. Certainly some are more professional acquaintances but there are some who I have relied on as one might a friend down the street. Close friendships can be forged wherever the tools of communication allow and it is something that should be considered when reviewing the study.
All the same, I think I’ll take the time to see how my neighbor is doing when I see her again.
The views expressed on this blog are the opinion of the author and should not be taken as fact.