Family and Community Connections
It was found that Internet medium does not replace the telephone medium, which is used as the primary source of communities. Internet users still use the telephone to keep in contact with those close to them. In fact, research has showed that most of the people who use Instant Messaging are found to be those whom you have a face-to-face relationship with. The Internet can connect communities through free websites like Welcome to the town, and Icqpeople.
There is debate as to whether the Internet isolates users or connects them to more social networks. Some believe that Internet use at home has a strong negative impact on time spent with friends and family as well as time spent on social activities, but Internet use at work has no such effect. Similarly, Internet use during weekend days is more strongly related to decreased time spent with friends and family and on social activities than Internet use during weekdays. Time online is largely an asocial activity that competes with, rather than complements, face to-face social time. However, it is the location and timing of Internet use that determines how interpersonal relationships are affected.
Read more about this topic: Effects Of Communication Technology On Local Communities
Famous quotes containing the words family, community and/or connections:
“The touchstone for family life is still the legendary “and so they were married and lived happily ever after.” It is no wonder that any family falls short of this ideal.”
—Salvador Minuchin (20th century)
“... to a poet, the human community is like the community of birds to a bird, singing to each other. Love is one of the reasons we are singing to one another, love of language itself, love of sound, love of singing itself, and love of the other birds.”
—Sharon Olds (b. 1942)
“The quickness with which all the “stuff” from childhood can reduce adult siblings to kids again underscores the strong and complex connections between brothers and sisters.... It doesn’t seem to matter how much time has elapsed or how far we’ve traveled. Our brothers and sisters bring us face to face with our former selves and remind us how intricately bound up we are in each other’s lives.”
—Jane Mersky Leder (20th century)