Twittering Towards Gomorrah

Posted by Alex in Politics on April 15, 2009 at 4:01 am


Add this to the list of social ills blamed on web 2.0 social networking sites Twitter and Facebook: they could harm your moral values!

Today’s fast-paced media could be making us indifferent to human suffering and should allow time for us to reflect, according to researchers.

They found that emotions linked to moral sense are slow to respond to news and events and have failed to keep up with the modern world.

In the time it takes to fully reflect on a story of anguish and suffering, the news bulletin has already moved on or the next Twitter update is already being read.

As activities such as reading books and meeting friends, where people can define their morals, are taken over by news snippets and fast-moving social networking, the problem could become widespread, researchers warn.

Children could be particularly vulnerable because their brains are still developing.

"If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people’s psychological states and that would have implications for your morality," said Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, from the University of Southern California, and one of the researchers.

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COMMENT

7 comments to "Twittering Towards Gomorrah"

  1. Mouserz
    April 15th, 2009 at 4:52 am

    i still don't get why people think twitter was a good idea.

  2. Marilyn Terrell
    April 15th, 2009 at 5:58 am

    Or, on the other hand, Twitter use can greatly increase compassion, as in the case of the Twittersphere's outpouring of love and assistance for the family of little Maddie Spohr:
    http://twitter.com/Marilyn_Res/status/1521967149

  3. Kaz
    April 15th, 2009 at 6:23 am

    That might be true if the only guide your child can find is twitter, but we can assume that most parents are not that dumb. I call FUD.

  4. chet
    April 15th, 2009 at 7:29 am

    As much as I hate Twitter, this study is really stretching it. It's just a medium of communications, like the telephone, telegraph, or email. It's amoral... though still incredibly stupid.

  5. Kev
    April 15th, 2009 at 8:03 am

    The only thing on the internet that's harming my moral values is Failblog.

    I saw a woman slip on the ice at the mall this winter, and I had to fight back the urge to yell "FAIL!"

  6. bumcakes
    April 15th, 2009 at 8:49 am

    this is reminiscent of the "television will ruin your eyeballs" scaremongering in the 50s. I hate that studies like this (limited, sociological in nature, poorly constructed and concluded) are picked up by the media and taken to the extreme conclusion.

  7. Tweeker
    April 15th, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    The Waltz is corrupting our youth!


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