Since the mid-1850s, scholars have debated how technological innovation would affect community. The debate continues as the Internet makes it increasingly possible for people to socialize, shop, work, learn, and participate in leisure activities all from within their home. Will the movement of these previously public activities into the private realm lead to reduced participation in public activities? What will be the fate of community and social relations as a result of the growth of computer-mediated communication?
I head the "Virtually Social Research Network." Our approach is to also study online relationships as part of broader social ties and social networks. Hence we inquire into the kinds of relationships that people have offline as well as online. How do these cohere in the overall tie between two persons and the social networks in which this tie is embedded. We take into account the social positions of those communicating, studying both social characteristics such as age, gender and life-cycle stage, and positional characteristicss such as organizational status and centrality in the network. We gather data using survey research, in-depth interviews ethnographic "in-person" fieldwork, and online observation (logs, content analysis.)
Our group is now studying "Netville," a suburban Toronto development equipped with a high-speed network as part of its design. The clustering of homes within this area allowed us to study the social networks, civic involvement, Internet use, and attitudes of residents.
Our group is also studying two scholarly networks. How are these communities of inquiry supported by online as well as offline communication? Do they form invisible colleges of information exchange, support, and mutual aid.
I shall describe our research approach in more detail, describing our efforts at data collection and data analysis.