(@elledog)

I read an interesting article recently on Time about low social interaction being linked to poor health. Thanks, @AnnaOBrien for the source.

The article talks about how having little social interaction with others can have some of the same effects as obesity, smoking and lack of exercise.

“those with poor social connections had on average 50% higher odds of death in the study’s follow-up period (an average of 7.5 years) than people with more robust social ties.”

The article focuses on physical, real-world social interaction and the idea of being together with people who are close to you. Maintaining social ties throughout your life can be critical to the span of your life. Very interesting. This makes me think hard about the online social connections I’ve made and try to maintain. I’ve often wondered what benefit online social interaction has on my health.

The bottom line is that online social interaction cannot replicate physical, real-world social interactions. In fact, I would wager that technology-facilitated social interaction can have the opposite effect and actually be harmful to health.

There’s a huge difference between connecting with someone through Facebook who you haven’t spoken to in 10 years, and bumping into that person on the street. This goes the same for community involvement. There’s a big difference between tending the community garden with your neighbourhood friends and joining an online gardener’s network. The conversations, smiles, support is all much more meaningful than what can be shared through a monitor. This is not to mention the physicality that is involved in meeting someone in the real world. You might walk to see a friend, go for a bike ride together, etc. There is nothing physically healthy about being stationary in front of a laptop or hunched over a mobile phone texting.

I am 6 months pregnant and have been researching a few key purchases that are unavoidable for new parents. One - the stroller. Others - car seat, change table, crib, etc. But, the stroller is the hardest. There are wide price ranges and an even broader range of features. For first time parents, this can be very confusing because it’s hard, if not impossible, to predict your needs before they arise. There are a few good online resources for new parents, especially geared at new moms. Some of the better ones I’ve found are:

http://www.babycentre.com
http://www.mommasgonecity.com
http://www.giggle.com
http://momtrends.blogspot.com

But my experience researching strollers online has been fragmented and I’ve found that it’s imperative to hit up a few good stores and talk to professionals, including both of my sisters and some close friends, about their stroller experiences. This close, supportive, physical-world social support has been critical for me in lowering the stress levels around becoming a parent.

So what is technology’s role in our social and community lives? If increased social interaction can be linked to better health, it makes sense that we should follow a path that helps us become more social and maintain social ties. I feel like we are scratching the surface of how technology can be used to make our social and community lives better. I plan on exploring this further in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!