Computer Networks as Social Networks
I suppose the best place to answer my question about who's online is to go the source, the self-described elder of the tribe of Internet researchers, Barry Wellman at University of Toronto. His 2001 piece for Science magazine, called "Computer Networks as Social Networks," gets the closest to answering the question though it is framed slightly differently.
Wellman writes:
"Systematic research on what people actually do on the Internet has lagged behind the Internet's development. After a long period of pundit supposition, travelers' tales, and laboratory studies of computer-mediated communication, survey-based and ethnographic research is now appearing.
These studies address a vigorous public debate about whether people can find community online. Critics wonder whether relationships between people who never see, smell, or hear each other can be the basis for tree community [reviewed in ( 10); examples include ( 11-13)]. Other detractors make an opposite argument: The Internet may be so immersive that it lures people away from other pursuits ( 14) and involves them in online interactions that only reinforce their existing opinions."
Again, not exactly the same question but close. Here, he talks about the way the Internet fits into existing, face-to-face communities of people, which I do think gets even closer:
"Robust results indicating how the Internet fits into community life are now available ( 30-32). It is becoming clear that the Internet is not destroying community but is resonating with and extending the types of networked community that have already become prevalent in the developed Western world. Old ties with relatives and former neighbors are maintained; new ties are developed among people sharing interests. It is not only that time and space become less important in computer-mediated communication, but that it is easy to communicate with large groups of community members (using lists) and to bring unconnected community members into direct contact. The ease with which computer-mediated communication connects friends of friends can also increase the density of inter-connections among clusters of network members within communities.
For one thing, as the newbies studied by Kraut et al. ( 33) gained more experience with the Internet, their depression and alienation disappeared, and their social contact increased enough to have a positive impact on their overall interactions with community members. A comparative analysis found that social support obtained online helped people to deal with depression ( 34).
Other studies have found that the Internet increased community interaction ( 35, 36). For example, a large National Geographic Web survey found that face-to-face visits and phone calls were neither more numerous nor fewer for people who use e-mail a great deal. E-mail just added to the fun of contact, so that the overall volume of contacts with friends and relatives through all media was higher for people who use e-mail a lot ( 27) (Table 1).
However, another study found that e-mail use is displacing telephone use to some extent ( 37). Perhaps there are differences in the kinds of communication that take place on the Internet or by telephone or face-to-face. Although one study of a dispersed work group found much similarity in what was said by means of each of these media ( 26), another found that among community members, e-mail is preferred more when people want to garner information efficiently.
The positive impact of the Internet on community ties is true for those living both nearby and far away. The proportionate gain in contact is greatest for contact with friends and relatives living at a distance (9, 38), as one might expect from a system able to cross time zones at a single bound and in which there is no differentiation between short-distance and long-distance messages. Yet online as well as offline contact is highest with those living nearby ( 9, 38). Cyberspace does not vanquish the importance of physical space. For example, many e-mail and chat messages arrange face-to-face meetings ( 26, 39).
The recent case of 'Netville' (a suburb of Toronto) is especially interesting, because here neighborhood access to a high-speed Internet service helped bring neighborhood members together for face-to-face get-togethers, from visits in private homes to semi-public barbeques (40, 41). Those who were part of the high-speed service knew three times as many neighbors as the unwired and visited with 1.6 times as many. Nor was the Internet only used socially: Netville residents used their local discussion list to mobilize against the real estate developer and the local Internet service provider ( 40). To be sure, Netville may be a special case because the residents were newly arrived and excited to be part of an Internet experiment. Yet recent work in Michigan ( 42) and Los Angeles ( 43) shows how the Internet can reinforce traditional community development approaches."
The full-text of Wellman's 2001 article is available from Science. [subscription required]
Wellman writes:
"Systematic research on what people actually do on the Internet has lagged behind the Internet's development. After a long period of pundit supposition, travelers' tales, and laboratory studies of computer-mediated communication, survey-based and ethnographic research is now appearing.
These studies address a vigorous public debate about whether people can find community online. Critics wonder whether relationships between people who never see, smell, or hear each other can be the basis for tree community [reviewed in ( 10); examples include ( 11-13)]. Other detractors make an opposite argument: The Internet may be so immersive that it lures people away from other pursuits ( 14) and involves them in online interactions that only reinforce their existing opinions."
Again, not exactly the same question but close. Here, he talks about the way the Internet fits into existing, face-to-face communities of people, which I do think gets even closer:
"Robust results indicating how the Internet fits into community life are now available ( 30-32). It is becoming clear that the Internet is not destroying community but is resonating with and extending the types of networked community that have already become prevalent in the developed Western world. Old ties with relatives and former neighbors are maintained; new ties are developed among people sharing interests. It is not only that time and space become less important in computer-mediated communication, but that it is easy to communicate with large groups of community members (using lists) and to bring unconnected community members into direct contact. The ease with which computer-mediated communication connects friends of friends can also increase the density of inter-connections among clusters of network members within communities.
For one thing, as the newbies studied by Kraut et al. ( 33) gained more experience with the Internet, their depression and alienation disappeared, and their social contact increased enough to have a positive impact on their overall interactions with community members. A comparative analysis found that social support obtained online helped people to deal with depression ( 34).
Other studies have found that the Internet increased community interaction ( 35, 36). For example, a large National Geographic Web survey found that face-to-face visits and phone calls were neither more numerous nor fewer for people who use e-mail a great deal. E-mail just added to the fun of contact, so that the overall volume of contacts with friends and relatives through all media was higher for people who use e-mail a lot ( 27) (Table 1).
However, another study found that e-mail use is displacing telephone use to some extent ( 37). Perhaps there are differences in the kinds of communication that take place on the Internet or by telephone or face-to-face. Although one study of a dispersed work group found much similarity in what was said by means of each of these media ( 26), another found that among community members, e-mail is preferred more when people want to garner information efficiently.
The positive impact of the Internet on community ties is true for those living both nearby and far away. The proportionate gain in contact is greatest for contact with friends and relatives living at a distance (9, 38), as one might expect from a system able to cross time zones at a single bound and in which there is no differentiation between short-distance and long-distance messages. Yet online as well as offline contact is highest with those living nearby ( 9, 38). Cyberspace does not vanquish the importance of physical space. For example, many e-mail and chat messages arrange face-to-face meetings ( 26, 39).
The recent case of 'Netville' (a suburb of Toronto) is especially interesting, because here neighborhood access to a high-speed Internet service helped bring neighborhood members together for face-to-face get-togethers, from visits in private homes to semi-public barbeques (40, 41). Those who were part of the high-speed service knew three times as many neighbors as the unwired and visited with 1.6 times as many. Nor was the Internet only used socially: Netville residents used their local discussion list to mobilize against the real estate developer and the local Internet service provider ( 40). To be sure, Netville may be a special case because the residents were newly arrived and excited to be part of an Internet experiment. Yet recent work in Michigan ( 42) and Los Angeles ( 43) shows how the Internet can reinforce traditional community development approaches."
The full-text of Wellman's 2001 article is available from Science. [subscription required]
posted by Jessie Daniels at
5:20 AM
