Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, last.fm (too name a few) – are we joining too many social networking communities? Do we reveal too much to our “friends” online? Has it all taken up too much energy in our lives? These are some of the questions that researchers are asking. With the overload of web 2.0 technology, it’s possible that are over-doing it and putting too much stock in this virtual world.Adults and teenagers are connected, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. At this point, a person is essentially connected every moment of every day, unless sleeping (and for some even this is an area of connection – see here).
Almost 40 percent of the American adult population has embraced mobile technologies into their lives to keep up on social networking, sharing photos, and working while on-the-go. But not everyone in this group thinks being so connected is a good thing, and it’s not the most likely of demographics, either. (source: Cheng, 2009 – ars technica)
Recently, there have been more and more ways to connect via mobile phones. The new advances in mobile technology are allowing people to connect even when they aren’t sitting in front of a computer. You can update your status from your phone though a nifty application just as easily as logging into a specific site. Perhaps this has become too much of a convenience. The stress of always feeling like you have to update a Facebook status, upload a picture, send or check a tweet can all end up leading to information or technology overload. Just recently at the SXSW conference, there were so many attendees micro-blogging about the events that Twitter reached a point of saturation.
I admit, there are times when I feel like I’m too connected. I guess the downside of being an early adopter to so many online services and communities is that once popularity increases and the “wow factor” wears off I actually find myself getting a little annoyed. What about you? Are there times when you think you are too connected? Don’t you ever just want to step out of the online world and take care of real life only? (leave a comment with your opinion)
Original article: ars technica
Other articles:
Top 10 ways you know you spend too much time e-communicating
I think I am too connected but I also think I am not connected enough! I love signing up for new social media platforms I find out about. I do think I over do it though because I spend WAY to much time, (valuable homework time) on things like twitter, checking out the new tweets from Britney Spears, Ryan Seacreast and Prez Hilton. Total waste of time I know, but I love it and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon!
I think I’ve found a balance point in my life… I check social networking sites only when I’m at a computer. I don’t access the internet on my phone, so time away from the desk is time away from the lure of such sites. The only problem: I’m thinking about getting a Blackberry or iPhone and I’m not sure I could resist using the internet on such devices!
Related article that raised the issue of “social networking fatigue” back in 2006:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/11/02/MNGG3M4KB31.DTL