A study conducted by the MacArthur Foundation suggests that new media, instant messaging, social networks, is not harmful to youths as it generally believed. The idea that spending too much time for creating a virtual personality is harmful for youths, as it isolates them from society and makes them behave in an awkward way when confronted with the most basic of social relationships.

 The study suggests that this is a wrong formulated idea and that, in fact, new media helps youths acquire technological skills and the literacy they need in order to succeed in today’s world. The basic idea behind the study is that “virtual reality” is actually a great training campus for facing the real world.

The study also suggests that creating and maintaining a virtual persona, helps youths create their own personality and affects their lives in a good way. Also, learning how to create a homepage helps youths gain experience in being perseverant in their affairs.

The study also shows that today youths rarely respond to e-mails but they immediately respond to instant messages or FaceBook comments. Social networks are based on a fairly good idea and, basically, they promote human interaction and help users meet new, interesting people, thus giving them the experience of how to act outside their homes and computers.

The MacArthur foundation’s study makes a good point in defending new media and the popular belief that this affects people in a negative way. All in all, it is good to know that a good, happy life means balance and a lack of excess.