Apples for Health- Internet robs family of face time

Internet robs family of face time

LOS ANGELES, June 19 (UPI) -- Internet-connected U.S. homes report erosion of face-to-face family time and increased feelings of family members feeling ignored, U.S. researchers said.

Researchers at the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication report the percentage of people who say they spend less time with household members since being connected to the Internet at home had nearly tripled, from 11 percent in 2006 to 28 percent in 2008.

Michael Gilbert, author of "The Disposable Male" and a senior fellow at the center, said diminishing family time coincides with the explosive growth of social networks.

Total hours devoted to family socializing contracted sharply from 2006-2008. Through the middle of the decade, reports of shared family time ranged from 22.6 to 29.8 hours. By 2008, shared time had dropped to 17.9 hours.

Almost half of the women said they are sometimes or often ignored, while 39 percent of the men reported being ignored.

In 2000, 11 percent of respondents said family members under age 18 were spending too much time online, a concern that had grown to 28 percent by 2008.

The findings were developed through annual surveys conducted among 2,000 U.S. households. The Digital Future Project provides a broad year-to-year exploration of the influence of the Internet and online technology on Americans by examining the behavior and views of a broad national sample of Internet users and non-users.