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Networked sociability online, off-line 221one had previous in-home Internet or computer experience were eligible toparticipate. Participants were interviewed twice, a pre-test before theyreceived Internet access, and a post-test 12–24 months later. Kraut et al. (1998)concluded that the Internet was similar to the television in displacing timespent on more social activities. Internet use was associated with relativelysmall, but statistically significant declines in the amount of time familymembers spent communicating with each other, the size of participants’ localsocial networks, and psychological well-being. Kraut et al. (1998) also foundnegative, although not statistically significant, relationships between Internetuse and stress, the size of participants’ distant social networks, and the numberof people participants felt they could go to for social support.Norman Nie and Lutz Erbring (2000) lent support to the findings of Krautet al. (1998) in a panel survey of over two thousand Internet users. They foundthat 5 percent of Internet users reported spending less time at social events, 9percent spent less time with friends and family, and 17 percent reported a dropin phone contact. Moreover, they found that those who spent the most timeonline were the most likely to report declines in social contact. Like Kraut etal, (1998), Nie and Erbring (2000) concluded that “the Internet could be theultimate isolating technology that further reduces our participation in communitieseven more than did automobiles and television before it” (Norman Nie,as quoted in O’Toole, 2000). It should be noted, however, that the large majorityof participants in Nie and Erbring (2000) reported that they experienced nochange in social activities as a result of Internet use, and a proportion of usersalso reported an increase. Nie and Erbring did not report on the relationshipbetween time spent online and increased or unchanged social contact.There have been a number of criticisms of the methodology employed byKraut et al. (1998) and Nie and Erbring (2000) (e.g., Caruso, 1998; Scheer,2000). For example, the sample used by Kraut and co-workers was nonrandom.Participants were drawn from pre-existing community and schoolgroups that may have experienced a decline in involvement and social contactunrelated to Internet use. The selection of participants with no previousInternet experience left open the explanation that the observed effect ofInternet use on social contact and psychological well-being may have been theresult of being new Internet and home-computer users, and not directly a resultof Internet use. The frustration associated with learning to use the Internet anda new home computer, particularly if it did not meet with initial expectations,may have increased stress, affected family communication, and encouragedincreased levels of isolation and depression. Nie and Erbring (2000), whileusing random sampling, employed an unusual and untested survey methodology.Participants were given WebTV, a system that allowed users to access theInternet through a set-top box connected through the television, and wereasked to complete surveys online over their TVs. WebTV tends to be adopted