New York – When it comes to mental health, the Internet gets a bad rap. There are countless studies that suggest regular access to the Internet is linked to stress, anxiety and addiction. But before you stop tweeting and toss out your iPhone, it turns out that spending time on the Web could actually be making you happier.
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A May 12 report by British researchers from the U.K.’s Chartered Institute of IT (known as BCS) have found a link between Internet access and well-being. But some benefit more than others from tapping into the information superhighway, including those with lower incomes or fewer qualifications, people living in the developing world and, perhaps most surprisingly, women.
Overall, the study found that access to the Internet leads people to feel better about their lives. “Put simply, people with IT access are more satisfied with life even when taking account of income,” said Michael Willmott, the social scientist who authored the study, at a press conference. “Our analysis suggests that IT has an enabling and empowering role in people’s lives, by increasing their sense of freedom and control, which has a positive impact on well-being or happiness.”
Few studies have been done on how Web access directly affects happiness. So researchers from the Trajectory Partnership, a U.K.-based think tank that carried out the study on behalf of the BCS, analyzed data from 35,000 people across the globe who took part in the World Values Survey from 2005 to 2007. Looking at a number of social and economic factors that determine happiness — including gender, age, income and education — the survey showed that Internet use empowers people by increasing their feelings of security, personal freedom and influence.
Read the full story at Times Magazine
int. makes people meshiga happy
real simcha is
pikudei H. mesamchei lev
Yes I agree internet can be used to make you happy or depressed. Depends what you use it for…
You can use it for Torah study and to connect with your chaveirim and do cheseddd or you can use it to talk loshon horah on yidchat sites
Internet makes me happy because I’m exposed TO THE ENTIRE WORLD that otherwise I would never have known about living in a Jewish ghetto here in Brooklyn.
This study further supports a generic observation that chareidi kids who are denied access to the internet (with filters of course) are much less happier than normal yiddeshe yinglach who can use this wonderful gift from the ebeshter to learn and play.
the internet allows me to see vin
There are so many things about the internet that are helpful to us that I truly believe it is a special gift from Hashem. He’s given us the ability to search for answers to practically everything in the world by a simple process. He’s allowed us to find people we thought we’d never be able to find otherwise. We get to see the wonders of the world even if we can’t physically be there. It’s a blessing for people who are disabled and now can buy whatever they want and need without difficulty. Personally, I’ve saved thousands of dollars by internet shopping and I’m someone that needs to be careful about expenditures. Yes, the internet has the abililty to make people happy when they recognize and use it properly.
“Internet Use Makes Us Happier, Says Mental-Health Study”
That’s CRAZY ???
זה לעומת זה עשה אלקים. There are fabulous things on the internet. Access to reams of divrei Torah, websites that are fill of kedusha. There is also more than enough of the opposite. The most expansive industry on the web is schmutz. And there is plenty of it even in sites that are expected to be neutral. To have access without control is dangerous, and requires constant diligence to steer away from the pitfalls. Here, too, we are told אין אפוטרופוס לעריות. The answer is not to provide free access to everyone everywhere. Banning it has also proven to be neither useful or beneficial. We need an answer that works.
INTERNET KILLS PEOPLE! I can tell you first hand.
is the guy in the picture checking his email?
could be in a daf yomi chatroom