Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 14, No. 371.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>
[1] From: "Charles Ess" <sophia42@earthlink.net> (34)
Subject: re. 14.0357 impact of new media on social life
[2] From: "Charles Ess" <cmess@lib.drury.edu> (31)
Subject: re. 14.0357 - again
--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 09:46:56 +0100
From: "Charles Ess" <sophia42@earthlink.net>
Subject: re. 14.0357 impact of new media on social life
Dear Willard and HUMANIST colleagues:
My apologies for sending my note out a shade too quickly [I know I'm the
only one this ever happens to ;-)]
What I _meant_ to say, of course, is that the CMU and Stanford studies show
a direct proportion between time on-line and feelings of social isolation
(including depression) - implying an inverse proportion between time
on-line and what can be broadly categorized as social happiness in the
world of embodiment and face-to-face modes of communication.
In penance for my mal-expression:
the CMU study is available online from the American Psychologist (as well
as many other places):
http://www.apa.org/journals/amp/amp5391017.html
the Stanford study is announced and discussed at
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/report/news/february16/internetsurvey-216.html
Just to add some balance (murkiness?) - there is a thread of research that
shows how, for example, immigrant and diaspora groups (e.g., Russians,
Chinese, and Koreans in the U.S.) use the Internet and the Web to maintain
what one researcher calls "intensive" connections, i.e., to reinforce and
maintain one's social existence (so Joo-Young Jung, Annenberg School of
Communication, University of Southern California, at the recent conference
of the association of internet researchers (see <http://aoir.org/> and
Fillip Sapienza, Communal Ethos on a Russian migr Web Site , Javnost-the
Public, "Global Cultures: Communities, Communication and Transformation"
Vol 6, 1999).
Hope this helps. Cheers -
Charles Ess
Professor and Chair, Philosophy and Religion Department,
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page: http://www.drury.edu/Departments/phil-relg/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC 2000: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/~sudweeks/catac00/
"Life is short, and Art long; the crisis fleeting; experience perilous, and
decision difficult." Hippocrates (460-379 B.C.E.), _Aphorisms_, 1.
--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 09:48:52 +0100
From: "Charles Ess" <cmess@lib.drury.edu>
Subject: re. 14.0357 - again
Dear Willard and HUMANIST colleagues:
To expand the thread I mentioned previously - of research showing how
Internet use may _not_ necessarily lead to isolation and depression, but
(and/or?) to maintenance, intensification, and expansion of social
relationships - please consider the following summary of research provided
by Barry Wellman (describing a thread of presentations at the recent
association of internet researchers conference):
The thread I focused on was concerned with virtual community and
social networks. Caroline Haythornthwaite and I organized two sessions
about "The Internet in Everyday Life." Researchers, including Steve Jones,
Andrea Kavanagh, Michelle Kazmir, Sorin Matei, Lee Rennie, Karina Tracey,
and James Witte presented data about how the experience of being online
intersects with other aspects of their (non-work) lives: at home, in the
community, and in education. My sense from these papers is that current
data do not support early newbie-based concerns that high Internet use is
associated with greater depression and isolation. As people (and their
peers) stop being newbies and incorporate the Internet into their lives,
it becomes an additional means of communication, neither replacing,
increasing, or depressing in-person and telephonic contact (The papers
from these sessions will be part of a special issue of the American
Behavioral Scientist, Fall 2001).
[quoted by permission from the author, from air-l digest 16 Oct 2000]
Of books - and the research that constitute them - there is no end...
Charles Ess
Professor and Chair, Philosophy and Religion Department,
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page: http://www.drury.edu/Departments/phil-relg/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC 2000: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/~sudweeks/catac00/
"Life is short, and Art long; the crisis fleeting; experience perilous, and
decision difficult." Hippocrates (460-379 B.C.E.), _Aphorisms_, 1.
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