Internet in Everday Life

"The Internet in Everyday Life" brings together many pioneering studies that systematically investigate how being online fits into everyday lives. Until now, the Internet has been treated and discussed as detached from daily life, occupying some separate sphere of social endeavour. This collection of original articles from leading scholars in North America, Asia, and Europe moves discussion of the Internet closer to home, showing how the Internet does not exist 'out there' but is instead an integral part of daily work and home life. Contributors show who is on the Internet and what they are doing there. They debate whether the Internet adds to or detracts from the well-being of individuals, communities, and societies. They demonstrate how the Internet affects friendship, social capital, social support, civic involvement, school, work, and shopping.They reveal the extent to which the Internet is supporting new forms of human relationships, and describe what gets dropped and strained when Internet hours are added to already full schedules. This book goes beyond speculation to provide solid findings. Articles in this book are informed by results from surveys, interviews, and ethnographic data about behaviour on and with the Internet. Taken as a whole, this considered body of evidence should raise the level of debate about the impact of the Internet and raises serious questions about the popular myth that Internet use increases social alienation.

Review: "Wellman is to be congratulated for pulling together a collection of excellent articles that will make a valuable contribution to empirically grounding discussions about the effects of the Internet on our everyday life experiences." Communication & Society "Its breadth, depth and empiricism make for an immensely impressive collection which is likely to influence the field of internet studies for years to come" New Media and Society "Work like that done in The Internet in Everyday Life is invaluable in helping us see and understand the technological world in which we are immersed. As such, it makes a major contribution to our discipline and our society." Contemporary Sociology "A powerful collective statement both about the domestication of the Internet in everyday life and about the need for new kinds of questions and methodologies in the next generation of Internet studies." Social Forces