Kobojunkie:

^^^ I don't think it is useless research at all. I think people need to be made to understand that some of the socializing they engage in on the net may actually be more harmful than they think. There are those who are constantly logged on to facebook and are willing to tell you that there lives are better for it. Yet when you observe their behaviour over time, you realize that they may really be in denial. Just take the internet away from one of those, for even a day, and man . . . .  demon go show up. ROFLMAO!!

Kobojunkie:

Well, yahoo and Nairaland do not have 500 million people users, and counting, each, do they now? 

You assumption that the researchers missed some angles is unfounded. All you have read of this particular research is a newspaper piece on it. You have yet to investigate the actual research itself to learn what was considered and what was not. I am willing to state that the researchers took into account most all of what you have there and more as there have been numerous research done on the effect of social networks on individuals, employees, and groups, even relationships .

Kobojunkie:

Yep! I have read some of the abstracts from some of the research on the effects of social networking and all. I believe this is a link to this particular one.

http://psp.sagepub.com/content/37/1/120.abstract

[size=13pt]In a related vein, research on errors in the perception of others’ emotional lives may help to explain why Internet users read sad online diaries or notes of others (e.g., postsecret.com) or visit sites that document the pitfalls of celebrities’ personal lives (e.g., tmz.com); such sites may help visitors feel less alone in their own problems. On the other hand, social networking sites (e.g., facebook.com) may exacerbate common misperceptions of others’ emotional lives because of the complete control that users have over the public image they project to the world through their photo albums, status updates, friendship networks, and so forth[/size].

Jakumo:

Anyways, continuing my rant, I would like to hypothesise that lemmings who flock to places that expose their personal details to the fraudster world must all be compelled to take that massive risk out of a sense of profound of loneliness and isolation, which is evidently not being addressed to their satisfaction in real life.   My condolences go out to anyone who falls into that sad category, and I wish ALL Facebores and Twits the best of luck when their bank accounts are hacked by their "friends" who carefully harvest such details from both of those very productive websites.

Jakumo:

Twitter is for twit[/b]s, and [b]Face[/b]book is a crutch for folks who can't [b]face reality.

As a certified bush-man who has never once in my life cracked open a web page on either of those two websites, could I ask from those who do spend time pouring out their souls to complete strangers on such sites to explain what the point of the whole exercise really is ?

I mean, why would anyone in their right mind voluntarily publish their true identity, along with photographs, for the benefit of every identity thief and bank account raider on this planet.  Help me out here, folks, why on earth is such exposure seen as a good thing ?   

Anyways, continuing my rant, I would like to hypothesise that lemmings who flock to places that expose their personal details to the fraudster world must all be compelled to take that massive risk out of a sense of profound of loneliness and isolation, which is evidently not being addressed to their satisfaction in real life.   My condolences go out to anyone who falls into that sad category, and I wish ALL Facebores and Twits the best of luck when their bank accounts are hacked by their "friends" who carefully harvest such details from both of those very productive websites.

U can't deny that sadistic feeling that comes over u when u see ur mates having a ball on fb whilst ur stuck in a rot at home or work, or that stint of jelousy when u see an ex looking all smiles with her\his new partner lol. I don't think being on fb itself automatically makes u a sad person, different people use it for different reasons but I think the research is speaking to people who take it too seriously. I personally know some peeps who literally spend their lives on fb\twitter and trust me they really are a sad pathetic lot.