[citation][nom]brothermist[/nom]Has anyone else noticed a lot more "OMG the internetz are bad for us" stories as of late? The timing seems a bit odd, taking into consideration the recent trend of governments around the world wanting to control access to, and the content of, the internet. Just an observation.[/citation]
I don't really see this as an, "OMG the internetz are bad for us!" story. You're assuming that the article is saying, "participating in online communities will affect your financial decisions". As Kyuuketsuki stated, correlation != causation.
I see this more as a reflection of these people's behavior. I.e. people who are more socially risky (people who are willing to put themselves out there more, and risk rejection, etc.) are also likely to be financially risky (put their money out there, and risk losing it).
It's not saying that the internet caused anything. It's saying that you can tell something about people by their behavior. Which is no big surprise.