A scientist at Oxford university has said that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are leading to narcissism and ‘identity crisis’ in users.
Oxford University professor of pharmacology Baroness Greenfield said that social networking sites have created a self-obsessed new generation who have short attention spans and need for validation, according to The Daily Mail.
Users have become like a toddler saying: ‘Look at me, Mummy, I’ve done this,’ says the scientist.
Greenfield also believes that Internet ‘friendships’ and computer games could ‘rewire’ the brain.
Reduced concentration, poor non-verbal skills, and inability to make eye contact during conversations are some ill effects of social networking sites, said Greenfield.
Greenfield told The Daily Mail, "What concerns me is the banality of so much that goes out on Twitter.
"Why should someone be interested in what someone else has had for breakfast? It reminds me of a small child (saying): "Look at me Mummy, I’m doing this", "Look at me Mummy I’m doing that".
"It’s almost as if they’re in some kind of identity crisis. In a sense it’s keeping the brain in a sort of time warp.’
Facebook has over 750 million users across the world.
Last month, a study from the Nominet Trust found that an overwhelming majority of parents in the UK fear their children are getting addicted to social networking site Facebook. Four-out-of-five parents fear that their children will become addicted to Facebook, while one-in-three parents think the Internet can ‘rewire’ the minds of children without their knowledge.
Deterioration of eyesight has also been observed in children who use the Internet for over three hours everyday.
However, Nominet said that the Internet has positive effects as well and ‘scaremongering and misinformation’ could deny the benefits it has to offer to children.
