Internet Everyday Life

Bys: Wellman and Haythornthwai

Book Overview

The Internet in Everyday Life is the first book to systematically investigate how being online fits into people's everyday lives.

Opens up a new line of inquiry into the social effects of the Internet. Focuses on how the Internet fits into everyday lives, rather than considering it as an alternate world. Chapters are contributed by leading researchers in the area. Studies are based on empirical data. Talks about the reality of being online now, not hopes or fears about the future effects of the Internet.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0631235086
• ISBN13: 9780631235088
• Release Date: December 2002
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 624 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The real world of the Internet -- from the Co-Editor

[Note: For some reason, another "reviewer" from Troy NY mad the dispariging comment, "Shouldn't the editor identify himself in a review?" But, I did and continue to do so, in the title of this little statement. My "review" is really a guide + a Table of Contents) to what the book is about. So I don't understand this person's comment. BW] The guide and TOC start here> <p>_The Internet in Everyday Life_ is about the second age of the Internet as it descends from the firmament and becomes embedded in everyday life. The first age of the Internet was a bright light shining above everyday concerns. In the euphoria, many analysts lost their perspective. The rapid contraction of the dot.com economy has brought down to earth the once-euphoric belief in the infinite possibility of Internet life.<p>It is not as if the Internet disappeared. Instead, the light that dazzled overhead has become embedded in everyday things. A reality check is now underway about where the Internet fits into the ways in which people behave offline as well as online. We are moving from a world of Internet wizards to a world of ordinary people routinely using the Internet as an embedded part of their lives. It has become clear that the Internet is a very important thing, but not a special thing. It is being used more -by more people, in more countries, in more ways.<p>This book is a harbinger of a new way of thinking about the Internet: not as a special system but as routinely incorporated into everyday life. The studies presented here begin the tasks of broadening our focus from the Internet to the social worlds in which it is embroiled. <p>The research in this book focuses on the relationship between the Internet and interpersonal relationships. It speaks to issues about the social consequences of adding the Internet to our daily lives. It explores how the Internet affects social and communal behaviors. The studies address key questions about the impact of the Internet on friendships, civic involvement, and time spent with others.<br> Who is online and who is coming online (and not coming)?<br> How much time do they spend online?<br> How does the Internet affect relationships within households, and with amily, friends, voluntary organizations, schoolmates, and workmates?<p>The research presented suggests that the Internet has accentuated a change towards a networked society: a turn toward living in networks rather than in groups. The personalization, portability, ubiquitous connectivity, and imminent wireless mobility of the Internet all facilitate networked individualism as the basis of community.<p> Table of Contents:<p>The Virtual Community in the Real World, by Howard Rheingold<p>The Internet and the Network Society, by Manuel Castells<p> Part I - Moving the Internet out of Cyberspace<p>The Internet in Everyday Life: An Introduction, by Caroline Haythornthwaite and Barry Wellman<p> Part II - The Place of the Internet in Everyday Life<p>1. Days and Nights on the Internet, by Ph