Janette posted today about her developing interest in how people connect in online settings. That was great to learn about, because I didn’t know what it was that had gotten her interested in this research.
She discusses how many argue that people feel less connected when learning online, but that her personal experience has been the opposite. At the end of her post, she asks the following question:
do you feel more or less connected to others in an online space?
Presence & Connections » why am I interested in “presence?”
I think that’s a really good question. My experience has been much like Janette’s in that I feel MORE connected online. One of my friends thought it was really weird that my wife often use instant messenger to “talk.” We communicate in traditional ways too of course 🙂 but the point is that we enjoy using IM and we feel we connect and communicate well online. I’m also much more connected and in touch with those of my friends and family members who use IM, blogs, online photo services, and other tools. At least, I FEEL that way.
There was another post circulating around the internet recently about this topic. Posted on the Tasty Research blog (nice name — but who are you?), this person reports on two research studies by the same lead author (Kraut), one in 1998 and one in 2002. (Forgive the secondary source citing here. I just read Tasty Researcher’s post and hope to download these articles and give them a proper read through). According to the Tasty Researcher, Kraut reports different findings in each paper. In 1998, he found that people were more disconnected online. In 2002, he found the opposite. What gives? First of all, we would need more research to verify that things really have changed. But if they have, it’s fun to think why it is so. Tasty Researcher offers a few ideas:
So what accounts for the difference between the 1998 and the 2002 study?
One could argue that the Internet has changed. Online dating, discussion boards, social networking, instant messaging. It’s just a different Internet.
The other argument one can make is that the users have changed — when the first study was done, only about the third of the population had access to the Internet. Now, everyone’s online.
Does the Internet improve social relationships and psychological well-being? « Tasty Research
What are your ideas?
References
Kraut, R., Kiesler, S., Boneva, B., Cummings, J., Helgeson, V., & Crawford, A. (2002). Internet paradox revisited. Journal of Social Issues, 58(1), 49-74. [PDF]
Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhyay,
T., & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet Paradox: A Social Technology
That Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being? American Psychologist, 53(9), 1017-1031.
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