Hmmmm, check please

Okay - so I'm watching Fox News (surprise!) and they have this "psychologist" on who says that it is significant that a study shows that people who use Facebook get lower grades than those who don't ...
un
let's look at this:

the studies looked at college students .... comparing those who use Facebook & those who don't (not those that use social networking to those who don't, not general public usage)

they looked at ONLY 200 undergrads (these range any where from 18 - 22 yrs old), even the dr. admits that this was not a big enough sample and that people need to be "cautious" (of course this was after he made a big deal out of the study)

the study found that students who used Facebook averaged between a 3.0 - 3.5 (B to B+) as opposed to those who claim they don't use Facebook which averaged 3.5 - 4.0 (B+ to A, or as the Dr called it "almost an A") .... excuse me? Studies have also shown that B to B+ students do better in life & careers than those who get A's because they know how to deal with things on a more realistic level!! And as a dr. he should have known of this study and should have brought that out instead of saying it was 'big news' .... he should have pointed this little fact out.

the "psychiatrist" (Dr. Keith Ablow) equated the undergrads that used Facebook as being "more likely to gravitate towards Facebook either because they might be more distracted, more social, or party'ers" .... so let me get this straight doctor -- you are saying that as a people, we are better off if we are socially isolated?

He does however site another study which showed that kids who use the internet are less likely to pick up on facial/social cues than those who don't ... he fails to mention that these are kids who spent a major portion of their non-school time on these computer activities ... the study also did not look at people who did a exorbitant amount of reading and if they also suffered from the same 'social cue deficiency' - my guess is they would ... and let's not forget that this is the same argument that was used to keep women from getting a good education so long ago (that it would result in 'lack of social graces')

he is also blaming the computer/internet for 'leading to some disconnectiveness'[sic] ... this brought up because the anchorman admitted that he is a lousy multi-tasker and that while making a phone call he often forgets who it is he is trying to speak to because his mind is on so many other things ...

The Dr. does however support allowing workers to use the internet freely during the work day.

Facebook facts:

• Has more than 200 million active users
• Fastest growing demographic: over age 35 yrs old
• average time spent on FB each day: 3.58 minutes
• 200+ million people update their "status" at least once a day (duh, there are 200 million users)
• average number of friends: 120 per user (boy am I way behind)

They then went on to speak about a study from Australia dealing with worker's using the internet ....

WILB ... Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing.

The study says that people who are allowed to use the internet are more productive because it allows them to free up their mind and relax for a bit during the work day .... yeah, right .... hubby works in SIT (system Information tech) and let me tell you, the people who are less productive are the ones who are 'abusing' the internet ... they are the ones who are spending 30 - 90 minutes a day browsing the computer.

The dr. equates the use of the Internet with naps or 'mini-vacations' .... WHAT??? they are so NOT the same thing .... well, kind of ... if you are taking naps or using the Internet you are robbing your employer of time they are paying you for. to me a 'mini vacation' is taking a trip to the cabin on the weekend or a day off at home - your own time, not the bosses.

Now I will give him credit that the Dr. said that he is concerned that the quick shift of focus from one activity to the other (work to Internet, then back) will make people actually lose focus on their tasks. You should have seen the look on the host's face when he heard that this was something that the Dr. saw with his young patients - you would have thought someone dropped an anvil on his foot (oh no what to do, the Dr. disagreed & said its an issue)

And - YES - your computer guys at work CAN SEE which sites you are going to ... and YES they CAN let the bosses know ... in fact sometimes its their jobs to let the bosses know.

had to laugh at the end though when the host, and the Dr. agreed, that the next generation wouldn't have the same issues with the Internet & social networking that we do because it would just be a part of their everyday life.

hmmmm .... okay