Does Twitter Dampen Emotional Development?

Twitter forms a connection between people by allowing groups to follow the daily thoughts and activities of selected members through frequent updates. Although the informational connection exists, scientists question if a more fulfilling emotional connection is allowed to form. A recent study showed that social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, are providing information too fast for the brain's "moral compass" to process, eventually leading to a stunted ability to feel emotions such as admiration or compassion.

CNN reported the findings of the study, which were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online. According to the study, when stories are streamed at a high rate, the brain does not have the opportunity to digest the anguish and suffering that may be a part of the story.

"If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people's psychological states and that would have implications for your morality," said researcher Mary Helen Immordino-Yang.

Although brain scans showed that humans can relate very quickly to signs of physical pain in others, it took longer to attach sentiment to "slow-burn" emotions like admiration.

"In a media culture in which violence and suffering becomes an endless show . . . indifference to the vision of human suffering gradually sets in," USC sociologist Manuel Castells said.

Researchers agreed that the study stresses the importance of the need for slower delivery of the news.