FACEBOOK makes you sharper but Twitter makes you thicker, a psychologist has said.

The social networking site boosts a part of intelligence that is vital to success in life, while tweeting away may have the opposite effect.

Keeping up to date with Facebook may have the same effect as playing video war games and solving Sudoku, said Dr Tracy Alloway of Scotland's University of Stirling.

It hones the ability to remember information and to use it, known as "working memory".

So it appears that I am just little bit thicker than a whole lot of other people! Facebook has never really been my thing - heck - I still only have about 5 people connected! As for the multitude of websites, images and quips my few hundred connected twitter-friends often share - I guess it just doesn't add up.

Consider me the dummy my Facebook Smartypants's!

Sylvestor
www.twitter.com/Sylvestor - you can probably find me on facebook too ;)

By Stephen Lunn

The Australian

July 14, 2009 12:01am

Better connections ... young Australians want more face-to-face time with friends and family / Lindsay Moller

• Gen Y culture shift
• Study reveals a "new nostalgia"
• Young Australians crave less complex times

NEXT thing you know, all the young men will be using Brylcream, the girls will be in bobby sox and everyone will be learning to jitterbug.

A study of young adult culture reveals a "new nostalgia" among Australia's 16-30 year olds, who pine for less complex times, The Australian reports.

Communicating with friends online has lost some of its lustre even from as recently as a year ago and they now want to have more face-to-face time.

And they increasingly prefer to do that at home rather than going out to noisy, potentially dangerous pubs and nightclubs, according to the annual Urban Market Research survey compiled by youth marketing agency Lifelounge.

The survey of more than 1600 young adults finds those still living with their parents (about half) have noticed the global financial crisis's impact on the family and pared back their lifestyle in response.

It also shows their love affair with technology is heading for a break-up, with time spent online down 30 minutes a week from last year, while their consumption of newspapers increased by the same amount.

Facebook and Twitter are also still on the rise, but losing some of their cachet.

Frankly, what a load of BULL! Is this an attempt by old-school media to try and make people believe that online tech is losing its way for people? If anything, its growing at an even great rate than ever!!! According to my circle of friends and their few degrees of separation.

Lets not confuse adaptation and acceptance of tech as a part of normal everyday life as a "turning away". Give it up old-school-journo's! You are losing a battle that should be seeing you on the front lines.

Get with the times! That includes you Mr Lunn!

Sylvestor (a 38 year old who is still full of tech-lustre!)
www.twitter.com/Sylvestor

t’s kind of like a World of Warcraft quest except instead of winning the Magical-Shield-of-Reckoning it ends with blow-j0bs and unfettered access to the internet

Agree whole heartedly, unfortunately, at 8pm "Central" - assuming this is US time, on Friday - I won't have an opportunity to give anyone a...oh never mind...I will probably be asleep! Oh well, such is life ;)

Sylvestor
www.twitter.com/Sylvestor