Are Americans becoming more disconnected as technology and social networks reshape communications? Writing in the Journal of Social Psychology, H. Colleen Sinclair reviews the evidence on the issue compiled by Claude Fischer in his RSF book Still Connected: Family and Friends in America Since 1970. "In contrast to our fears," she writes, "Dr. Fischer finds considerable stability, or even strengthening in Americans' social connections." She highlights some of Fischer's main findings:

Americans spend as much time—if not more—with their children, just not so much by gathering around the dinner table at home.

Likewise Americans communicate with and see their relatives, including parents, as often as they ever have.

Americans have just as many friends today, with whom they are in touch with as much as, if not more than, Americans of past eras. (Just again, keeping in touch today isn’t done so much with in-home dinner parties as it was in the past.)

Thus, not surprisingly, Americans report having just as much social support today as they have in the past.

Further, they report being just as satisfied with those friendships and families today as they have been in the past. In fact, some evidence suggests that Americans now value family even more than they have previously.

Fischer did, however, find evidence that romantic relationships may be suffering—individuals apparently report more problems and break-ups than in previous years, and Americans spend less time with their spouses than preceding cohorts. In a column for the Boston Review, Fischer explains his major concern about loneliness:

Loneliness is a social problem because lonely people suffer. But it’s not a growing problem. Moreover, the loneliness that should worry us is not generated by a teen’s Facebook humiliation, a globetrotter’s sense of disorientation, or the romantic languor of a novelist. It is, rather, the loneliness of the old man whose wife and best friends have died, the shunned schoolchild, the overburdened single mother, and the immigrant working the night shift to send money home. There’s nothing new or headline-worthy about their loneliness, but it is real and important.

You can learn more about Fischer's research at the Berkeley Blog and at the Boston Review