Can Facebook Rot Your Brain?

By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Are you logged into websites like Facebook or Twitter? A top British neuroscientist claims these social networking sites could be bad for the brain.

So many passwords, so many Web sites, social networking is more popular than ever. Twitter a friend or meet one on MySpace, find old ones on Facebook or Friendster, any page you look will surely get you linked in somehow with a pal.

For the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce, they've seen five times the Web traffic to their site now compared to last year.

"It's really a networking marketing advantage. We have people across the U.S. that we do business with and so we market to them, we communicate to them," Midwest City Chamber of Commerce Director David Burnett said.

Facebook fanatics, like Matt Hunt, are logged on almost all day everyday to connect with the past and present.

"Probably on 6 to 10 hours a day," Hunt said. "You're so used to getting information and things changing so fast. It does kind of create a shorter attention span."

Experts are concerned these social networking interactions could affect the brain, especially in children. A top neuroscientist claims too much time on these sites cause sensationalism, shorten attention spans and make young people more self-centered. So, are these sites shifting the way we think?

"I'm not sure if we're losing skills. I think we're adapting to those skills that technology's come about," said Dr. Andrew Gin, St. Anthony's Hospital's Neurology Chief. "It's going to cause wiring and perhaps some re-wiring but I don't think we can put the label good or bad yet. I think it's how we apply that."

Good or bad, for Matthew Hunt, the information superhighway of social networking is both.

"I think it's bad that so much time is put into it when it could be put into other things, but it's also good because I'm part of my friend's lives and it feels good that people know about you and other people care."