They call themselves social networking sites but now it appears that the likes of Twitter and Facebook could be downright anti-social. A leading academic claims that the technology is threatening to dominate our lives, making us more isolated and ‘less human’. Professor Sherry Turkle has even branded the use of the social networking sites a form of ‘modern madness’.

　　由导演大卫·芬奇执导的好莱坞电影《社交网络》因贴近当今“微生物”们的虚拟网络社交生活、还以Facebook总裁肖恩·帕克为原型题材成为本届金球奖的得主，还作为第83届奥斯卡最佳热门，继续成为外界的焦点。虽然，最近Facebook总裁肖恩·帕克终于“现身”指出电影并非完全根据他的现实经历所改编，部分情节纯属虚构，虽然关于社交网络的话题炒了又炒，又有科学家指出“社交网络”（facebook twitter等）名义上是帮助网民社交生活更加丰富，实则却将自己与真实世界完全隔绝开来，使得“人性缺失”“与世隔绝”，教授Sherry Turkle甚至称这些所谓的社交网站为“现代科技的畸形产物”。

　　She argues that, under the illusion of allowing us to communicate better, technology is isolating us from real human interactions in a cyber-reality that is a poor imitation of the real world. Professor Turkle, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the U.S., is leading an attack on the information age with her book Alone Together. The professor even suggests social networking can make us mad, citing ‘pathological behaviour’ she has witnessed, such as mourners at funerals checking their iPhones.

　　有专家称，这些披着“方便社交外衣”的大大小小的社交网络正是以帮助网民交朋友的名义生存，但是他们的存在的效果与现实大大相反，科技反而隔绝了现实生活，网络社交网站是现实世界的一个“十分蹩脚”的模板，绝对不能代替现实世界的作用。美国麻省理工学院的教授Turkle专门写名为《Alone Together》(一起变孤独)来抨击社交网络在我们生活中占据越来越重要作用的残酷现实，他指出：“这种毫无意义的虚拟社交正在侵蚀着我们正常的社交活动，它会让我们变得‘疯狂’和形成病态的行为，比如捧着一个iphone死都不肯放下等等。”

　　Other American academics have criticised the growing trend of internet activity. One, Professor William Kist, of Kent State University in Ohio, has cited the death in Brighton of Simone Back who posted her suicide note on Facebook at Christmas. Not one of 42-year-old Miss Back’s 1,058 ‘friends’ on the site called for help. Instead they traded insults on her page. However, defenders of Twitter and Facebook claim social media has many benefits and has, for example, led to more communication for people who are separated by long distances.

　　由人情淡薄社交网络造成的人间等惨剧不绝于耳，比如前段时间有一位网民Simone Back 圣诞节在自己的Facebook上宣告自己即将自杀，却无一名网上朋友（他网上朋友有1058人）制止他的自杀行为，最后Simone Back 还是离我们而去等等惨剧。虽然有越来越多的学者反对社交网络的作用，但是支持者还是觉得这些社交网络可以联系“远距离”朋友的感情。