YOUR HEALTH:JUDGING BY controversial comments made by the Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nicholls about social networking sites last week, it is unlikely that he is in the habit of being poked or of having sheep thrown at him, writes CHARLIE TAYLOR
As these are among the many questionable activities which regular Facebook users engage in, it seems safe to conclude that the Archbishop, who is the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, has not experienced such delights and has no plans to rectify this situation any time soon.
In a recent interview with a Sunday newspaper, the Archbishop warned of the dangers associated with modern technologies such as mobile phones and the internet, which he said were “dehumanising” and led to a loss in social skills.
Of particular concern to him was the impact of social networking services such as Facebook, Bebo and Twitter, which he claimed led young people to form “transient relationships” that put them at risk of suicide when they collapsed.
Also, he argued, that such sites encourage children to place an excessive importance on the number of friends they had instead of the quality of their relationships.
As more than one commentator noted, given that the Archbishop is in the habit of communicating with what many would consider to be an imaginary being, he might not be the person best placed to comment on rounded communication.
Also, given that the Pope now has his own Facebook page and the Vatican has its own YouTube channel, the Archbishop’s comments would seem to contradict current thinking within the church.
Yet, the Archbishop’s views were reported around the world and led to many newspapers publishing features warning parents of the dangers of social networking sites.
With over a million registered Irish users of Bebo and more than 400,000 for Facebook, there’s no doubting the popularity of social networking sites here. But there’s disagreement among professionals over the possible impact on young people’s development.
Dr Deirdre MacCarvill, a Dublin-based psychologist who works as a life coach with parents and children, says there are instances where such sites can be problematic.
“The trouble with many of these websites is that they are so entertaining and so sophisticated that they are proving to be extremely attractive to young people with the results that they can spend much of their lives online. A lot of parents I am in contact with complain about the amount of time their children spend on these sites,” she says.
“For children who would tend to be socially isolated, in particular, these websites can become a kind of refuge which they retreat into rather than going out and meeting people and testing their social skills,” she adds.
But some believe that those who are concerned about young people’s use of modern technology simply don’t understand it.
“As with many new inventions there have been fears that it would spell the end of social interactions as we know it – the telephone and even the telegraph were seen by some to be the start of a significant social decline but these fears were never realised,” says Dr Gráinne Kirwan, a lecturer and the programme co-ordinator of the MSc in cyberpsychology programme at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT).
Kirwan points out that social skills are developed from a very young age, usually before people have begun using social networking sites and that these skills are not easily lost, unless an individual separates themselves from all human contact for a prolonged period.
She says that, as with many aspects of online interaction, social networking websites themselves are not necessarily inherently a good or bad thing – it depends on how individuals use them.
“Probably one of the main differences between younger people and adults is that younger people tend to use the internet more as a social device, whereas adults tend to use it as an information gathering tool. So younger people are more attracted to social networking websites, blogging, microblogging and instant messaging, but older people are more inclined to use the internet to plan activities, accomplish tasks at work or to seek out information.
“Neither approach is necessarily better than the other, but it can lead to a generation gap, where older people cannot understand why younger people spend so much time online, seemingly doing nothing.”
While conscious of the dangers associated with the internet and mobile phones, Jonathan Nicholas, chief executive of Inspire Ireland Foundation, an organisation which uses technology to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people, says there is no evidence to suggest that social networking sites are dehumanising.
He believes that technology can have a positive influence on people and is wary of attempts to see it as something which threatens social development.
“Even with something like cyberbullying which has received a lot of focus in the media, it’s important to stress that the problem hasn’t arisen as a result of social networking sites or mobile phones. People are just using modern technology to engage in behaviour that already existed; if we got rid of social networking sites, bullying would still be with us,” he says.
Meanwhile, Kirwan acknowledges that the Archbishop of Westminster is correct in suggesting that the likes of Facebook and Bebo encourage people to develop friendships with a wide range of people.
She says that studies have shown that people with larger numbers of friends on social networking websites are considered to be more popular and outgoing than those with fewer friends. But, she says, it would be a mistake to think that most young people use such sites instead of developing offline friendships.
“While they encourage large numbers of shallow relationships, they also allow people to more closely follow the day-to-day activities of their closest friends, and so deepen those friendships,” says Kirwan.
According to Marie Duffy, a member of the youth advisory panel at Headstrong – the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, social networking sites can be a lifeline for those living in rural communities or with little income, and may also help to encourage greater participation in society.
“For many young people, social networking sites are simply a cheap way of communicating with friends. Unlike texting or calling, if you have an internet connection at home it’s free. If you live in the country it’s not always easy to meet up so such sites help you stay in touch,” said Duffy.
“People need to stop thinking of the negatives and consider the positives. Something like 70 per cent of 16-24 year olds are using social networking sites and some organisations are doing great work in promoting mental health and active citizenship by engaging with these young people at their level. It would be great to see more doing so in the future,” she adds.