Major international study shows that email is the key to strong ties with friends and relatives

WASHINGTON , DC -- Results of a large, major survey of more than 40,000 visitors to the National Geographic website show that email helps build community. The key finding is that the more people use email, the more they are in contact with friends, relatives and neighbors. Rather than replacing in-person contact, email increases in-person and telephone contact. People use email to keep in touch, arrange get togethers, and find help. Surprisingly, this high use of email is true for maintaining local relationships as well as for relationships with friends and relatives around the world.

The findings of this study will be presented by Keith Hampton and Barry Wellman at a press briefing at the American Sociological Association's Annual Meeting on August 12th at 2:30 p.m. at the Marriott Wardman. The research is supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and Communications and Information Technology.

Wellman and Hampton point out that community is no longer confined to neighborhoods, but is based on global social networks supported by email, phones, cars and planes. Their research shows that although most community ties are not local, they provide abundant companionship and support. They argue that community has changed. Where before people used to walk "door-to-door", and only a decade ago used to drive or telephone "place-to-place," they now are in contact "person-to-person" with little regard to where they are. The result is that people's contacts -- on email or cellular phones -- are often isolated from their physical surroundings.

Main findings of their study are:

• The more people use email, the more they are in contact with friends and relatives.

• People who use email continue to see each other in-person and telephone each other. The more people use email the more they see each other in-person and telephone each other.

• Although people think of email as linking people globally, much contact is local. The more people who live near one other use e-mail, the more they see each other in-person and the more they telephone each other.

• To be sure, email is even more powerful in maintaining contact with distant friends and relatives. It is the glue holding their relationships together. The more they do email, the more they see each other in-person and the more they telephone each other.

• It is email communication specifically that is the key to maintaining ties with friends, relatives and neighbors. Recreationally surfing the web has much less effect than email for maintaining contact.

• "Newbies" (people who have only been on email for a short period) use it almost as effectively as veteran interneters to stay in contact with friends, relatives and neighbors.

Keith Hampton is Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is completing a doctoral dissertation at the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto.

Barry Wellman is Professor of Sociology and heads Netlab at the Centre for Urban and Community Studies and the Department of Sociology, University of Toronto. He is author of Networks in the Global Village, Westview Press, 1999.

Journalists are invited to attend any of the more than 500 presentations, book panels, poster sessions and symposia featured on a wide range of topics at the Annual Meeting. Press facilities will be located in Room 8226 of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

Media Office Phone, August 11-16: 202-745-2151; Fax 202-745-2152

NEWS Date: August 11, 2000
Contact: Public Information
202-383-9005, ext. 320
pubinfo@asanet.org

For further information contact: Barry Wellman 416-978-3930, wellman@chass.utoronto.ca, http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman
Keith Hampton 416-513-9985, khampton@chass.utoronto.ca,
http://www.mysocialnetwork.net