So says a report from Pew. I've been saying for a long time that things really haven't changed in terms of social interaction, and if anything, people are more likely to interact IRL (in real life, duh) because technology tends to be an enabler.
But the basis of my unscientific opinion has always been rooted in the fact that people like to get naked and touch each other. Online interaction hasn't replaced the real thing any more than virtual reality rides have replaced roller coasters. It's just ain't the same thing.
My personal experience is that the Intertubes have helped me maintain a lot of relationships over distance that would be difficult otherwise, and more and more I keep reconnecting with people because of Facebook. This partly begs the question about the quality and scope of these relationships, but that's probably another discussion. But again, a lot of the real life principles still apply. A solid relationship, for example, requires some bidirectional effort, just as face to face relationships do.
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