IP: Internet as online community

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 11:50:55 -0500
> From: Gene Gaines <gene.gaines () gainesgroup com>
>
> News from home.
>
> >From CyberAtlas at Internet.Com:
> http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/traffic_patterns/article/0,,5931_917141,00.html
>
> Internet Spurring Group Interaction
>
> "Contrary to the belief that the Internet encourages social
> isolation and alienation, a study by the Pew Internet &
> American Life Project found that more Americans use the
> Internet to contact groups than to get news or shop.
>
> According to the study, 84 percent of Internet users have
> contacted an online group. Many of these online groups are
> far flung and allow Internet users to connect easily with
> others around the world who share their passions, beliefs,
> hobbies and lifestyles. At the same time, 26 percent of
> online Americans use the Internet to intensify their
> connection to their local community by planning church
> meetings, organizing neighborhood gatherings, arranging
> local sports league operations, coordinating charity
> activities and petitioning local politicians.
>
> Among the findings of the study:
>
>   - 50 percent of those who participate in online groups
>     said the Internet has helped them get to know people
>     they would not otherwise have met.
>   - 37 percent of those who participate in online groups
>     say the Internet has helped them meet others from
>     different generations than their own.
>   - 27 percent of those who participate in online groups
>     say the Internet has helped them connect with people
>     from different racial, ethnic or economic backgrounds
>     than their own.
>
> "For vast numbers of Americans, use of the Internet
> simultaneously expands their social worlds and connects
> them more deeply to the place where they live," said Lee
> Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life
> Project. "Online groups are comfortable places for people
> to congregate and get to know organizations and people
> they might never have encountered."
>
> Many online Americans are using the Internet to connect
> to traditional groups that exist in the offline world such
> as professional and trade associations, hobby enthusiast
> organizations, religious groups, ethnic and racial
> fraternal organizations and political groups. More than
> half (56 percent) of those contacting online groups said
> they became active in a group -- even traditional,
> offline organizations -- after they began communicating
> with it over the Internet.
>
> At the same time, millions of online Americans now use the
> Internet to connect to groups to which they belonged before
> they began using the Internet -- and they report that their
> use of the Internet has helped them become more involved
> with those groups.
>
> The report also found young adults and minorities are using
> the Internet to participate in all kinds of online clubs
> and organizations and this is leading to new forms of civic
> involvement.
>
> "The network of networks has become a collection of
> communities," said John Horrigan, senior researcher at the
> Pew Internet Project and principal author of the report.
> "Many actively engage in cyber groups through e-mail and
> bulletin boards that are lively forums for sharing ideas,
> hashing out issues, and making new friends."
>
> Men tend to be drawn to online groups involving professional
> activities, politics and sports. Women tend to be drawn to
> online medical support groups, local community associations
> that are online and groups relating to entertainment.
>
> Users of online groups are active. Fully 60 percent e-mail
> their group, with 43 percent doing so several times a week.
> Thirty-five percent of all Internet users go online for news
> about their local community or community events; 30 percent
> of all Internet users go online to get information about
> their local government; 11 percent of Internet users know of
> a local issue in which the Internet played a role in
> organizing citizens to communicate with public officials.
>
> ..."
>
> See the Pew study from which the above was drawn at:
> http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=47
>
>
> Gene Gaines
> gene.gaines () gainesgroup com
> Sterling, Virginia


For archives see:
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/