The Daily Texan asked me yesterday to respond to ‘reports’ that heavy usage of social networking sites could prove extremely hazardous to health. The full story is more prosaic but I have to say, I did wonder just how such stories get started. I noted that computers have always been the source of health risks, it’s just the form of computer application that changes. In the 1980s pregnant women were advised not to sit in front of terminals for fear of danger to their unborn children; in the 1990s cell phones were supposed to give you brain tumors and so on. By the time the data catches up, the myth has morphed into something else. Still, the number of ‘friends’ who apparently want me to befriend them on FB is startling, so maybe there is a health problem lurking somewhere. Meanwhile, I suppose if you want to get famous, create a bogus theory about the dangers of iPhones, iTunes or eye-glasses. The downside of this, apart from the complications of establishing causality between online behavior and life outside, is that the fear of hazards can be enough to induce some of the very problems we don’t think exist. Still, if you think the 100 friends you have online are really there when you want to go out for a drink or need a hand painting your basement, you probably have bigger problems. Myth 1-0 Reality.
V.M Daniel Regents Professor of Information
I too wondered how such “folklore” stories get started. Seems any person with a good size listening audience can start just about any rumor and get it rolling. Good post.
Wouldn’t it be a tragedy if eyeglasses gave you cancer? If someone ever proved that- he’d get stoned by 60% of the US population.
In saying this I have heard about the negative effects of electromagnetic fields however there doesn’t seem to be any conclusive research, either that or it’s kept quiet and people are paid off. I did know someone who used a mobile constantly with the hands free earphones and she had a brain tumor at a very young age of about 20.
Seems some people just like stirring things up a bit and trying to see how many gullible people they can catch with it before the truth comes out. Next thing we are going to hear is that chatting in online chat rooms can give you Aids or something…
er, cell phones actually do cause cancer. google it on usatoday.com.
Google it on USA Today to learn about cell phones and cancer? Oh dear……what are you reading??