Online Social Networks as a mirror of society

Humans are social beings. They need to interact. Online social networks are a new advance in methods of developing the social relationships so important to humans (as described in Wikipedia). However, I find Danah Boyd’s explanations for the popularity of online social networks a rather sad comment on today’s society. Teens do not have a place to hang out, a public place to mix and mingle: society is not as safe as it used to be; simpler pleasures such as roller rinks have been superseded by activities more dependent on technology (think, for example, paintball guns, video games). Youths of today have not been allowed to just go out and play all day. Their lives have been very organized for them, with activities filling their time. As society moves at a faster pace and changes at a faster pace, their demands of life increase at a faster pace. The new space for teens is cyberspace, accessed from the confines of their computer, but leading to the freedom and the social interactions the teens are seeking. It seems that our lives are leading ever farther from the real world, and our connection with the real world is being lost. “We won’t know what we’ve lost ‘til it’s gone” (adapted from Joni Mitchell). All this sounds very gloomy, but I think it opens the discussion surrounding weighing the tremendous opportunities offered by online social networks against the problems they create.