The New York Times Magazine has an interesting article on the social effects of pervasive internet contact of the sort created by Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Millions of young people (in the affluent west, at least) have grown up in the last decade without ever knowing a world with no internet. Tools like Facebook enable them to remain in constant interaction with hundreds, or even thousands, of 'friends'.
It's changing the people relate to each other, as well as how they think of themselves. Social scientists call the phenomenon of incessant online contact 'ambient awareness'. And as people share more of their innermost thoughts and feelings online, traditional understandings of privacy take on new meanings or evaporate entirely.
Is this the dawn of a new age of global connectedness, or a foray into technology-fueled narcissism? Read the article and decide for yourself.
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