Interesting read and not that surprising when you think about it, more time spent watching HD porn leaves less time for Scouts etc...
Faster internet access has significantly weakened civic participation in Britain, according to a study that found involvement in political parties, trade unions and volunteering fell as web speeds rose.
Volunteering in social care fell by more than 10% when people lived closer to local telecoms exchange hubs and so enjoyed faster web access. Involvement in political parties fell by 19% with every 1.8km increase in proximity to a hub. By contrast, the arrival of fast internet had no significant impact on interactions with family and friends.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/23/internet-access-decline-civic-engagement-uk
The new study, published in the Journal of Public Economics, gathered information from the communications regulator Ofcom about the location of local internet cabling exchanges, which during the period studied were a key determinant of data speeds. It then cross-referenced this with residents’ survey responses from the British Household Panel Survey and the UK Household Longitudinal Study about their engagement with social organisations.
Sounds to me that they're taking correlation as causation. Presumably their methodology meant that the survey responses were not specifically designed to address broadband speed, but were for some other purpose?
I am sure there are a multitude of other reasons why 'civic engagement' has dropped.
Despite being better connected to each other than ever before, we've also become more insular, isolated and narcissistic.
Interesting read and not that surprising when you think about it, more time spent watching HD porn leaves less time for Scouts etc…
Correlation not causation?
My gut instinct is faster internet means there are more ways for someone to interact with others so may not feel the need to so through a formal organisation. Is that actually less civic engagement or just changing methods of civic engagement that weren't measured by the survey?
Despite being better connected to each other than ever before, we’ve also become more insular, isolated and narcissistic.
Speak for yourself.
Stop throwing so many teacups about 🤣🤣🙃
xkcd has it as normal..
I've just skimmed the original paper. I could draw a stack of different conclusions from the data but I would concur with one of their conclusions which is that "Our results paint a complex picture". In my mind it's probably a Jackson Pollock.
For teh added lols, the Gruinard is actively promoting the downfall of society today.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/jan/24/how-to-speed-up-your-broadband-internet
