Contrary to what some people might think, using social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn actually correlates with being more social in the real world.
A just released report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that people who use Facebook are more trusting and have closer personal relationships than those who don't.
When asked whether they  felt "that most people can be trusted," Facebook users who use the site multiple times per day are "43% more likely than other internet users and more than three times as likely as non-internet users to feel that most people can be trusted."
Percent of people's overall social network that they have 'friended' on Facebook
Perhaps more important, Facebook users have slightly more close confidents (2.16) than non-users (1.93).  Confidents are defined as "people with whom they discuss important matters."
The study also found that Facebook users are more likely to get emotional support from others and more likely to be politically engaged.
And, not surprisingly, Facebook users report that the service has helped them resurrect "dormant relationships."  The average user in the survey has 229 Facebook friends, broken down as follows:
The report also found that, on an average day:
Why?
The report didn't indicate why Facebook and other social media users are slightly more social than non-users, but the results didn't surprise me. We are long past the point where people who use online services are using them in lieu of personal relationships. Facebook, for both adults and kids, is increasingly becoming an extension or amplifier of real-world relationship While there are cases of people who use social media to reach out to strangers, most people use it to keep up with people they know in person or friends of friends. To the extent that people make new online friends they are often people with similar interests.
Methodology
Pew conducted telephone interviews with 2,255 American adults between October 20-November 28, 2010.  That included 1,787 internet users and 975 users of social networking services such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Twitter.  Surveyors say they have "95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points."
Disclosure: Larry Magid is co-director of ConnectSafely.org, a non-profit Internet safety organization that receives financial support from Facebook and other companies.
Follow Larry Magid on Twitter: www.twitter.com/larrymagid
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Results are unsurprising if one considers that people who are more sociable are more likely to join FB in the first place. Survey suggests strong correlation, not causation.
Since the data was collected by self-reporting the results are not surprising. Sure, these people say they are willing to attend rallies and volunteer, but are the actually DOING so? It's kind of hard to truly be engaged when you are staring into a computer screen every other hour or so.
Friends who disclose details about me are no longer friends. Call it a quality management decision :-).
I trust people implicitly, but I don't trust Facebook the corporation.