It's still better to talk eyeball to eyeball

01 February 2016 - 02:19 By Claire Keeton

Socialising by means of texting and social media is not a substitute for the emotional support friends share over coffee or a walk, according to new studies. But many young people rely more on screens to connect than socialise face to face, during which time they might still be on smartphones."Recent research shows that digitally mediated social interactions can have a positive impact on sense of belonging, bonding, self-esteem and mood among adolescents and young adults. However, text messaging and social media often fail to match in-person social interactions," said Dr Susan Holtzman of British Columbia University in Canada.She led an experiment among young women to test this and presented the results this weekend at a Society for Personality and Social Psychology meeting in San Diego in the US.A second test found that a group of pre-teens was much better at picking up non-verbal emotions after five days at a nature camp without screens.Commenting on these findings local Alberton schoolgirl Jodell Kirsten Tantij, 14, said: "The fun thing about texting is that you can still interact and socialise even if you are not with each other. The bad thing about it is that people can lie over the phone because you don't know how they are feeling. Interacting face to face is way better."A male pupil, from Sacred Heart College, said:"Speaking in person, you experience a great deal more sincerity. but it is scarier since you could experience judgment or rejection."Holtzman summed it up:"As society increasingly relies on digital interactions there may be costs as well as benefits to the quality of our relationships and our emotional health."..

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