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Networked sociability online, off-line 229barriers to local interaction, and there are others where the barriers are simplytoo big to be overcome through technology or another intervention (see, forexample, Banfield, 1967).CONCLUSION: NETWORKED SOCIABILITY IN THENETWORK SOCIETYIn the network society it is unlikely that people will reject the need for socialrelationships based on physical location. As evidence from Netville, theSyntopia Project, Pew Internet and Everyday Life, and an increasing numberof other projects suggests, many relationships with origins online move offlineand vice versa. When social ties are examined in terms of networks andnot groups, and when the Internet is considered as one form of communicationamongst many, computer-mediated communication tends to support theformation of larger, more diverse, social networks, community organizing, andpublic participation. It is a misnomer to label online ties as insufficient andincomplete in comparison to ties from the “real world” as they are part of thesame social system.As public spaces, online communities may become the street corners of thetwenty-first century, but as yet there is no evidence that the Internet willreduce the importance of existing public places or “third places” such as cafésand bars (Oldenburg, 1989). The reduction in the friction of space enabled bythe Internet has not made geography or place irrelevant. In fact, the oppositeappears even more likely. Most computer-mediated communication is local,affording and reinforcing connections within existing realms of activity: thehome, neighborhood, and workplace. Computer-mediated communicationhelps overcome obstacles to interaction within existing patterns of relations.Rather than dramatically altering our way of life, the new technologies of thenetwork society are more subtle in their impacts, facilitating interaction andcoordination. The Internet can break down barriers to local involvement, coordinatepublic participation, and provide new opportunities for place-basedinteractions. If we accept the evidence of Putnam (2000) and others – thatthere has been an increase in privatism and a decline in public participationover the past quarter-century – then the Internet may become a central force inreversing this established trend.NOTE1. “Netville” is a pseudonym adopted to protect the identity and privacy of the residents of thewired suburb.

230 Keith N. HamptonREFERENCESAngsioco, Leonceo (2003) “Addiction to Virtual Connections Can Have Heavy Toll onReal Communities,” The Seattle Times, Opinion Section, August 24, C4.Banfield, Edward (1967) The Moral Basis of a Backward Society. New York: FreePress.Beamish, A. (1999) “Approaches to Community Computing: Bringing Technology toLow-income Groups,” in D. Schon, B. Sanyal, and W. Mitchell (eds), HighTechnology and Low-income Communities, pp. 351–67. Cambridge, MA: MITPress.Calhoun, C. (1998) “Community without Propinquity Revisited: CommunicationsTechnology and the Transformation of the Urban Public Sphere,” SociologicalInquiry 68 (3): 373–97.Caruso, Denise (1998) “Critics are Picking Apart a Professor’s Study that LinkedInternet Use to Loneliness and Depression,” The New York Times, September 14,C5.Daft, R. L. and Lengel, R. H. (1986) “Organizational Information Requirements,Media Richness and Structural Design,” Management Science 32 (5): 554–71.Durkheim, E. (1893) The Division of Labour in Society. New York: Free Press, 1964.Feld, Scott (1982) “Social Structural Determinants of Similarity among Associates,”American Sociological Review 47: 797–801.Fischer, Claude (1975) “Toward a Subcultural Theory of Urbanism,” American Journalof Sociology 80: 1319–41.—— (1982) To Dwell Among Friends. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.—— (1992) America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940. Berkeley,CA: University of California Press.Granovetter, Mark (1973) “The Strength of Weak Ties,” American Journal ofSociology 78: 1360–80.—— (1995) Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers, 2nd edn. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.Hampton, Keith (2001) “Living the Wired Life in the Wired Suburb: Netville,Glocalization and Civil Society,” unpublished PhD Dissertation, Department ofSociology, University of Toronto.—— (2003) “Grieving for a Lost Network: Collective Action in a Wired Suburb,” TheInformation Society 19 (5): 417–28.—— and Wellman, Barry (2003) “Neighboring in Netville: How the Internet SupportsCommunity and Social Capital in a Wired Suburb,” City and Community 2 (4):277–311.Haythornthwaite, Caroline and Wellman, Barry (1998) “Work, Friendship and MediaUse for Information Exchange in a Networked Organization,” Journal of theAmerican Society for Information Science 49 (12): 1101–14.Horrigan, John and Rainie, Lee (2002) Getting Serious On-line. Washington, DC: PewInternet and American Life Project.Howard, Philip, Rainie, Lee, and Jones, Steve (2002) “The Place of the Internet inEveryday Life,” in Barry Wellman and Caroline Haythornthwaite (eds), TheInternet in Everyday Life, pp. 45–73. Oxford: Blackwell.Jacobs, Jane (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: VintageBooks.Katz, James and Rice, Ronald (2002) Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access,Involvement, and Interaction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

230 Keith N. HamptonREFERENCESAngsioco, Leonceo (2003) “Addiction to Virtual Connections Can Have Heavy Toll onReal Communities,” The Seattle Times, Opinion Section, August 24, C4.Banfield, Edward (1967) The Moral Basis of a Backward Society. New York: FreePress.Beamish, A. (1999) “Approaches to Community Computing: Bringing Technology toLow-income Groups,” in D. Schon, B. Sanyal, and W. Mitchell (eds), HighTechnology and Low-income Communities, pp. 351–67. Cambrid<strong>ge</strong>, MA: MITPress.Calhoun, C. (1998) “Community without Propinquity Revisited: CommunicationsTechnology and the Transformation of the Urban Public Sphere,” SociologicalInquiry 68 (3): 373–97.Caruso, Denise (1998) “Critics are Picking Apart a Professor’s Study that LinkedInternet Use to Loneliness and Depression,” The New York Times, September 14,C5.Daft, R. L. and Len<strong>ge</strong>l, R. H. (1986) “Organizational Information Requirements,Media Richness and Structural Design,” Mana<strong>ge</strong>ment Science 32 (5): 554–71.Durkheim, E. (1893) The Division of Labour in Society. New York: Free Press, 1964.Feld, Scott (1982) “Social Structural Determinants of Similarity among Associates,”American Sociological Review 47: 797–801.Fischer, Claude (1975) “Toward a Subcultural Theory of Urbanism,” American Journalof Sociology 80: 1319–41.—— (1982) To Dwell Among Friends. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.—— (1992) America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940. Berkeley,CA: University of California Press.Granovetter, Mark (1973) “The Strength of Weak Ties,” American Journal ofSociology 78: 1360–80.—— (1995) Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers, 2nd edn. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.Hampton, Keith (2001) “Living the Wired Life in the Wired Suburb: Netville,Glocalization and Civil Society,” unpublished PhD Dissertation, Department ofSociology, University of Toronto.—— (2003) “Grieving for a Lost Network: Collective Action in a Wired Suburb,” TheInformation Society 19 (5): 417–28.—— and Wellman, Barry (2003) “Neighboring in Netville: How the Internet SupportsCommunity and Social Capital in a Wired Suburb,” City and Community 2 (4):277–311.Haythornthwaite, Caroline and Wellman, Barry (1998) “Work, Friendship and MediaUse for Information Exchan<strong>ge</strong> in a Networked Organization,” Journal of theAmerican Society for Information Science 49 (12): 1101–14.Horrigan, John and Rainie, Lee (2002) Getting Serious On-line. Washington, DC: PewInternet and American Life Project.Howard, Philip, Rainie, Lee, and Jones, Steve (2002) “The Place of the Internet inEveryday Life,” in Barry Wellman and Caroline Haythornthwaite (eds), TheInternet in Everyday Life, pp. 45–73. Oxford: Blackwell.Jacobs, Jane (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Vinta<strong>ge</strong>Books.Katz, James and Rice, Ronald (2002) Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access,Involvement, and Interaction. Cambrid<strong>ge</strong>, MA: MIT Press.

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