Most important communication technology to study?

I agree with the others that the internet is one of the remaining technologies that have not been studied as insistently as other forms. Although, I think there should be research on the effects of the internet to individuals and how they relate to others around them. With the emergence of social networking sites such as myspace and facebook, heavy users might develop social problems from believing they are interacting with others through a web page, but it is not actual communication. What sort of effects might that have on generations that grow up on these sites and have no idea what it would be like to not have them to keep in touch with their friends? These sites should not just be the sole focus of this study, but rather look into how the internet and computers might actually be isolating people from one another. The internet offers all kinds of media for people to view whenever they want, so it is not surprising that people will rather save the money of going to the theater and they will just download the movie. What will start to happen to society when you are able to get all your basic needs from the internet? I think it will be interesting to see as technologies and internet continue to progress as to what kind of impact it may have on society.