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Long Distance Community in the Network Society

Contact and Support Beyond Netville

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

BARRY WELLMAN

University of Toronto

The authors examine the experience of the residents of Netville, a suburban neighborhood with access to some of the most advanced new communication technologies available, and how this technology affected the amount of contact and support exchanged with members of their distant social networks. Focusing exclusively on friends and relatives external to the neighborhood of Netville, the authors analyze community as relations that provide a sense of belonging rather than as a group of people living near each other. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is treated as one of several means of communication used in the maintenance of social networks. Contrary to expectations that the Internet encourages a global village, those ties that previously were just out of reach geographically experience the greatest increase in contact and support as a result of access to CMC.

American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 45, No. 3, 476-495 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/00027640121957303


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