wellman claremont

Barry WellmanUniversity of Torontowww.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellmanwellman@chass.utoronto.ca: 

Barry Wellman University of Toronto www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman wellman@chass.utoronto.ca From Bounded Groups to Border-Crossing Networks

Outline of the Talk: 

Outline of the Talk The Three Ages of Internet Studies – Plus Pre-History Focus on Second Age Documentation from the National Geographic Studies Netville Study Social Affordances, Not Techno. Determinism The Third Age of Internet Studies Towards Networked Citizenship From Group-Based to Networked Societies In-Depth Analyses of Everyday Practices

Pre-Historic Times: Community Before the Internet: 

Pre-Historic Times: Community Before the Internet Already Non-Local Phone Heavily Used Sparsely-Knit Specialized Relations Loosely-Bounded Punctuated Equilibrium in Turnover

The Three Ages of Net Studies: 

The Three Ages of Net Studies First Age: Anticipatory Hype, Isolated Analyses Second Age: Documentation for Government, Academe, Commerce, Public Interest Ethnographies Surveys – Access, Users and Uses Third Age: Internet in Everyday Life Longer Range Changes Towards a Network Society Focused, In-Depth Field Studies

1st Age of Internet Studies: Transcendence, 1990-1998 : 

1st Age of Internet Studies: Transcendence, 1990-1998 Anecdotes, Punditry, Hype, Fantasies, Fears, Lab Studies Announcements of Technological Developments Promises that They Will Change People’s Lives Case Studies: Online Shopping; E-Democracy Traveler’s Tales to Outer Cyberia: Wired Magazine Virtual Communities as Immersive; Cyber Sex Burning Man Festival Cautionary Tales about Evils of Web Life Internet Addiction; Sexual Role Playing and Cyber Rape Stealing Credit Card Numbers (Unlike Restaurant Waiters ;-)

Utopianism –Internet is Hyper-Real: 

Utopianism – Internet is Hyper-Real “We are in the middle of the most transforming technological event since the capture of fire. I used to think that it was just the biggest thing since Gutenberg, but now I think you have to go back farther.” Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Perry Barlow (in Barlow, et al., 1995, p. 36)

Dystopianism – Internet is Less Than Real: 

Dystopianism – Internet is Less Than Real “While all this razzle-dazzle connects us electronically, it disconnects us from each other, having us “interfacing” more with computers and TV screens than looking in the face of our fellow human beings.” [Texas Broadcaster Jim Hightower ,1995,]

The Wired Trajectory: 

The Wired Trajectory Chart Source: Sheldon Ungar, Dept of Social Science, Scarborough College, Univ. of Toronto, May 2002

Three First Age Fallacies: 

Three First Age Fallacies Punditry Makes “common sense” pronouncements instead of investigating systematically Deductive vs. evidence-based reasoning Presentism Assumes that only phenomena that happened since the Net are relevant to understanding the Net Parochialism Assumes that only phenomena that happen on the Net are relevant to understanding the Net

Myopic to Look at the Internet  As a Special World: 

Myopic to Look at the Internet As a Special World Computers are NOT the Mothers of All Invention Need to Document and Situate Internet The Reality of Internet More Important than the Dazzle Increasing Commitment More Time Online In US: 9.4 Hours Week More Years of Experience: The Key Correlate Doing More Things Online

Myopic to Look at the Internet As a Special World: 

Myopic to Look at the Internet As a Special World Computers are NOT the Mothers of All Invention Reality of Internet More Important than the Dazzle Increasing Commitment More Time Online More Years of Experience Doing More Things Online

Second Age, Imminence: 1998-2002 : 

Second Age, Imminence: 1998-2002 Documenting & Situating For Government, Academe, Marketing, Public Interest Ethnographies Surveys – Access, Users and Uses Multiple Realizations that Reliable Data Needed Grounding Internet Use in Overall Experiences Integrating Net Use with Other Media Use Differentiating Types of User Populations Focus on Email Communications

Is the Internet … ?: 

Is the Internet … ? Disconnecting Household Members Transform, Diminish, Add To Communication & Community Civic Involvement: Voluntary Orgs, Politics Alienation: Loss of Control, Sense of Control Replacing Everyday Pursuits Affecting Power / Quality of Work

National Geographic Survey 2000 and Survey 2001: 

National Geographic Survey 2000 and Survey 2001 “Survey 2000” Cleaned Sample 15,659 North Americans (US, Canada) 77% 3,079 Other OECD (Germany, Japan, etc.) 15% 1,604 Non-OECD (Often Less Developed) 8%

Internet is Important But Not Dominant -- Means of Communication: 

Internet is Important But Not Dominant -- Means of Communication Telephone is 41% of all Communications Reported, Estimated Kin, 46%; Friends, 35% Email: 33% (Kin, 28%; Friends, 39%) Daily Users: 39% Face-to-Face: 22% (Kin, 21%; Friends, 24%) Letters, Cards: 4% Kin Contact is 45% of all Reported Communication Length of Use – Not Demographics Main Predictor to Frequency of Use, Sense of Community

Social Contact – On and Offline: 

Social Contact – On and Offline The More Veteran the User, the More Email Contact: Nearby Friends (< 50 km) ß = .15 Distant Friends (> 50 km) ß = .11 And to a Lesser Extent -- with Kin Nearby Kin (< 50 km) ß = .07 Distant Kin (< 50 km) ß = .06 Email Use Increases 13% per Year of Experience Younger Adults (18-29) & Singles Email More Email & Web-Surfing Positively Associated

Email Adds on To Communication: 

Email Adds on To Communication Nearby Interactions Continue to Predominate 63% of All Contact with Kin are with Nearby Kin 42% of all Email Contact with Kin are with Nearby Kin Multiple Media Used For Daily Emailers For Nearby Kin, Email is 22% of All Contact For Faraway Kin, Email is 53% of All Contact Friendship Data is Similar, but More Contact And More Email Contact

 Online & Offline ContactPositive Media Relationships – Near and FarPhone Stronger than F2FFriends Stronger than KinNearby Friends Stronger Than Distant FriendsTrend Line / Regression Discrepancy  Non Email Users & Hi Users Have Most Nearby Contact Hi Email Users Have Most Far-Away Contact: 

Online & Offline Contact Positive Media Relationships – Near and Far Phone Stronger than F2F Friends Stronger than Kin Nearby Friends Stronger Than Distant Friends Trend Line / Regression Discrepancy Non Email Users & Hi Users Have Most Nearby Contact Hi Email Users Have Most Far-Away Contact Email – F2F Nearby Friends ß = .24 Nearby Kin ß = .10 Distant Friends ß = .16 Distant Kin ß = .11 Email – Phone Nearby Friends ß = .31 Nearby Kin ß = .19 Distant Friends ß = .26 Distant Kin ß = .20

GloCalization: 

GloCalization Global + Local = GloCal Extensive Long-Distance (Global) Connectivity But, Intensive Local Connectivity 50+ of all E-Communications are Local “Local Virtualities” – E-Contact with Neighbors At Home In Community At Work

Slide31: 

Glocalization in a Community Keith Hampton & Barry Wellman Telco Field Trial in Toronto Suburb Highly Fast Asynchronous Transfer Mode 16 MegaBit/Second Always On In City and Community journal

Slide32: 

View of Netville

“Wired” and “Non-Wired” Neighboring in Netville: 

“Wired” and “Non-Wired” Neighboring in Netville  

Glocalization at Work: 

Glocalization at Work With Anabel Quan-Haase & Joe Cothrel IM & E-Mail in High-Tech Company “KME” – Partner of Microsoft > Half of Both IM & Email within Workgroup

Media Use at KME (Days / Year): 

Media Use at KME (Days / Year)

Social Exclusion: 

Social Exclusion Digital Divide: Socioeconomic, Non-English Language Global Digital Divide: (Almost) Entire Countries Not Connected Few Phone Lines; High Cost Much Variation Between Countries Public Access Terminals Fill Gaps Digital Penalty: Exclusion from Jobs, Information, Discussion

Newbies Are Changing The Internet’s Global Profile: 

Newbies Are Changing The Internet’s Global Profile North Americans Resemble General Pop. By Contrast, Other OECD & Non-OECD are: Male Better Educated Younger Single Resemble Early North American Users: Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny

From Newbies to Users: 

From Newbies to Users People Rapidly Become Experienced Users Become Frequent Users The Real Digital Divide is Know-How – Not Access Global Digital Divide Multiple Digital Divides

Numbers & Percentages of Population Online : 

Numbers & Percentages of Population Online Source: a: NUA, http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/, 2003; b ITU, 2002

Trends of the Digital Divide by Country : 

Trends of the Digital Divide by Country

The Catalan Difference: 

The Catalan Difference With Manuel Castells, et al. Few Use Email Frequently Most Use Web Services Frequently Why? Localistic Society: Most Friends and Kin Live Nearby Most Live with Parents High Touch Society: Smell, See, Feel, Hear Whys are Conjectures Now

The Japanese Difference: 

The Japanese Difference With Kakuko Miyata & Jeffrey Boase Phone Based Web Services Small Screens Phone Based Texting /Short Messages Frequent short contacts rather than long statements Incompatible Systems Hinder Social Cohesion

The Third Age of Internet Studies(2002 - ): 

The Third Age of Internet Studies (2002 - ) Detailed, In-Depth Analyses Hypothesis Testing Consideration of Social System Changes Impact of Personalized, Mobile Tech.

The Double Internet Paradox: 

The Double Internet Paradox (1a) First Age Hype Asserted that Internet Would Transform Society (1b) As, the Internet Became Embedded in Everyday Life (2a) Second Age Documenting the Embedding of the Internet in Everyday Life (2b) As Societies Quietly Transforming From Groups to Networks

Computer Literacy Study: 

Computer Literacy Study Digital Divide Concerns: Use, not Access Surveyed Users / Non-Users In US, UK, Japan, China Predicts to Informed Use Data Collected. Analysis to Begin With Inna Romanovska Supported by AMD

New Pew Study of Relationships: 

New Pew Study of Relationships How Does the Net Support Weak Ties? Does the Net Lead to Cultural Diversity? Does the Net Lead to Social Diversity? In the Field Now 2,200 American Respondents

New Connected Lives Study: 

New Connected Lives Study How Does Net Use Intersect with Offline? Household Relations & Contentions Social Networks & Social Capital Modal Choice: Transportation / Communication Extraversion, Cognitive Flexibility, Openness Cultural Diversity Survey, Interview, Ethnography, Photo, E-log In East York (Toronto): scene of previous studies In Field Late Spring

Does the New Internet Really Exist?: 

Does the New Internet Really Exist? Bandwidth – Information Knowledge? Anytime – 24 / 7 / 365 Anywhere – Ubiquity Globalized Connectivity Wireless Portability Convergence – Any Medium Accesses All Personalization

New Transnational Entrepreneurs Study: 

New Transnational Entrepreneurs Study Links among Chinese in Toronto – L.A. – Beijing How Do They Mobilize Social Capital? How Do They Use the Net and Travel? Communication / Transportation Tradeoffs How Do They Develop Trust? With Wenhong Chen

Slide50: 

You Can’t Say “The Internet” Any More So Embedded in Life It Won’t be Noticed

Third Age Questions: 

Third Age Questions Civic Involvements Bowling Alone, But Netting Together? From Groups to Networks? Do New Social Forms Affect Social Movements, Democracy Community? The Rise of Individualized Networking? Is the Internet Alienating Domestic Life? Activities Is the Internet Replacing Everyday Pursuits? Time-Use How Do People Find Information in Networked Societies? Work How Does Affect Work Relations & Organization? How is Networked Work Controlled?

Social Transformation:From Groups to Networks: 

Social Transformation: From Groups to Networks Changing Connectivity Sparsely-Knit Loosely-Bounded Multiple Foci

Turn Towards Individualized Networking?: 

Turn Towards Individualized Networking? Transportation & Communication Have Become Individualized Dual Careers – Multiple Schedules Multiple Employers Sequential and Contemporaneous Physical Separation of Work, Home, Commerce Movement of Work away from Workplace: Teleworker, Flex Worker, Road Warrior Computerization Allows Personalization No Over-Arching Social Controllers

Slide54: 

Door-to Door Groups Place-to-Place Glocalization Person-to-Person Networked Individualism

Social Cohesion: 

Social Cohesion Networked Individualism Glocalization Multiple, Partial Communities Focused Messaging within Group May be Counterbalanced by: Forwarding, Listservs, Chats Homogeneity in One Area Doesn’t Mean Homogeneity on Others

Social Mobilization: 

Social Mobilization Easy for Shared Interests to Find Each Other Chats, Searches, Forwards Easy for Formal/Informal Groups to Form & Sustain Websites, Listservs Online & Offline Interpenetrate Easy Linkages Between Groups Web Links; Members of Multiple Groups

Social Control: 

Social Control Helps Surveillance Partially Automated Lower Cost and Broader Reach Cycle between Cryptography and Code-Breaking Move away from Densely-Knit Groups Socially-Controlling Good for Conserving Resources Move Towards Multiple, Partial Communities Reduced Informal Control Good for Acquiring New Resources

Consequences for Citizenship: 

Consequences for Citizenship Citizenship Has Been Built on Hierarchical Sets of: Bounded Groups Hhold > Neighbourhood > Region > Country > Bloc People Coming to Belong as: As Individuals More Weak Ties – But Easier to Connect with Strong Ties Partially Involved in any One Group Shifting, Sometimes Divided Loyalties Really, but Partially Local Easy to Shift Allegiance with Mouse Clicks Information is Only Google Away. Knowledge?

Groups  Networks: 

Groups  Networks ** Each in its Place  Mobility of People and Goods ** United Family  Serial Marriage, Mixed Custody Shared Community  Multiple & Partial Personal Nets Neighborhoods  Dispersed Communities Surveillance  Privacy Control  Autonomy Voluntary Organizations  Informal Leisure Face-to-Face  Computer-Mediated Communication Public Spaces  Private Spaces Visibility  Anonymity Focused Work Unit  Networked Organization Job in a Company  Career in a Profession Autarky  Outsourcing Office, Factory  Airplane, Internet, Cellphone Ascription  Achievement Hierarchies  Multiple Reporting Relationships Conglomerates  Virtual Organizations/Alliances Collective Security  Civil Liberties Cold War Blocs  Fluid, Transitory Alliances

After 9-11: Retreat to Bounded Groups? : 

After 9-11: Retreat to Bounded Groups? Possible Return to Bounded Groups Reverse the Arrows! Re-establishing Tight Boundaries Knowledge Workers’ Spatial Mobility Hindered Goods Made and Sold Locally Distrust of Outsiders Drawing into Densely-Knit Groups Gated Communities Gated Work: All Work Done on Premises – Autarky Direct F2F Ties Replace Indirect, Computer Mediated Ties

Slide61: 

Barry Wellman & Caroline Haythornthwaite, eds. Oxford UK & Malden MA: Blackwell Publishers Fall 2002 ISBN: 0631235086 www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman