Kids and Twitter An Emotional Cost?

According to a recent study conducted at the University of Southern California, Twitter, and other fast-connection social networking sites, may have a negative impact on the emotional development of young people. Because so much information is thrown at us so quickly, there is relatively little time to digest the information and react emotionally to it. A constant stream of information may simply be too fast for our brains, especially those that are still in their formative years.

Just think about it and you may find that this may make sense. When things happen too fast, you don’t get a chance to experience the emotions that come with the situation. This may impede your ability to think about or understand other people’s psychological states regarding the same situation and this may ultimately cause issues with your morality. A little lost? Here’s what the study has to say about it.

The study focuses on the way people react emotionally to certain situations. The findings indicate that human beings can process and respond to signals of pain and distress in other people quite quickly, but in order to feel compassion or even admiration, there must be time to reflect on it. When information is thrown directly at us, such as on the real-time social platform of Twitter, the time to reflect on the situation is eliminated. This can have a potentially dangerous implication on the emotional growth of youngsters.

In normally developed people, the good and the bad are separated generally due to feelings of admiration and compassion. This is a deep psychological reaction and helps define the human race since it is absent in other animals. The rapid-fire delivery of information on Twitter and many other social networking platforms retards this development and causes an information overload.

However, it is important to note that the study does not place complete blame on Twitter and the Internet, but also television. Television is chock full of violence and suffering, which has become the norm in modes of entertainment. Repeated exposure to violent images can cause emotional dysfunction by causing an increased indifference to such situations.

Though many people claim that blaming the media and Internet for emotional issues in our kids is a cop out, studies such as the one at the University of Southern California are proving that there might just be a grain of truth to these theories. So, what should we do? Should we keep our kids off Twitter? Remove the television from the house? Just remember, everything should be done in moderation, so as long as your children’s activities are monitored and discussed, you’re on the right track.

3 Responses to “Kids and Twitter An Emotional Cost?”

1. Tweets that mention Kids and Twitter An Emotional Cost? -- Topsy.com says:

   November 17, 2009 at 10:35 am

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2. Tweets that mention Kids and Twitter An Emotional Cost? -- Topsy.com says:

   November 17, 2009 at 4:29 pm

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by MashMoz, WebDoctus Blog. WebDoctus Blog said: Kids and Twitter An Emotional Cost? http://url4.eu/m7pP [...]

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3. Kyle Koester says:

   November 20, 2009 at 10:36 am

   Not sure about the report, but
   I stick to the old saying too much of a good thing is bad

   Reply