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Family Time Decreasing as Web Use Grows, Study Shows

by Caleb Johnson on June 21, 2009 at 03:01 PM


Folks are finding less time to spend with those closest to them, and are spending more time pecking at a keyboard and stare at a glowing square. In no way should we be the first to cast stones here, but the findings of a new study by the Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California bother us just a bit.

USA Today reported that, according to the study, 28-percent of those surveyed last year told researchers they were spending less time with their immediate family. That number has shot up since the center's 2006 study, when it stood at 11-percent. According to the new survey, families spent an average of just 18 hours per month together in 2008, as opposed to nearly 26 hours per month in the early Oughts.

While the study was careful not to lay blame on one particular thing, Annenberg Center senior fellow Michael Gilbert told USA Today that, as family time goes down, time spent on the Internet goes up. He mentioned the growing popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, in particular. Apparently, regular people are taking notice of this trend, themselves. Of the 2,030 respondents, 28-percent said they worried that children and teenagers spent too much time on the Internet.

We don't want to paint the Internet as the devil here, but this study did make us step back from our desks and think; we could all stand to unplug for a few more minutes each day. The Internet does have seemingly endless troves of information, but there are some things that only Momma or Daddy can teach you. [From: USA Today]

Tags: family, internet, internet addiction, InternetAddiction, study, television, top

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