Rainie & Wellman Ch. 5 Summary

 

This week, I read the first chapter of Part II in Rainie and Wellman (2012), which is about networked relationships. It starts by hashing out the hysteria over the supposed uptick in loneliness and decline in close relationships caused by the internet and mobile technology. The authors point out that these kinds of fears pre-date the Internet and that people who use the Internet have more extensive and diverse networks.

The authors point to the change in network hubs from the household, to specific places (e.g., church, work, school, etc.), and finally to the individual. The Internet aided the person-to-person network shift. The authors emphasize that this change does not mean people are consequently more isolated but rather that they have more flexibility to tailor their interactions with others. They use the term networked self to refer to this phenomenon of tailoring interactions, emphasizing different aspects of themselves in various contexts.

Rainie and Wellman (2012) argue that people's online and offline selves and relationships are not separate entities but are deeply integrated. They observe that the Internet is often used to maintain contact and arrange face-to-face meetings. Contrary to popular belief, they note that most people have few, if any, friends whom they have only interacted with online. Therefore, the internet is not a threat to 'real life' relationships but serves to extend and enrich them.

In addition, people are apt to have personal networks of friends, family, coworkers, and so on that they communicate with and see regularly. Technology-mediated communication is often integrated into these relationships. The size of these personal networks is difficult to measure, but estimates range from 250 to 1,200 people. Furthermore, the more people in one’s personal network, the higher the quality of the connections tends to be.

The characteristics of these personal networks show that they are sparsely knit, segmented, and specialized. They are sparsely knit in that that members are not directly connected. They are specialized in that people get specific types of support from some members of their personal network and a different type from other members. Another characteristic of personal networks is that they change. The change tends to be sudden rather than gradual, often associated with significant life changes.

What do these networks do together? They discuss the day, exchange information, do things together, etc. Closeness among people in a personal network is multi-dimensional. Just because you may not discuss important matters with your personal network does not mean you are not close to others.

The chapter ends by asserting that social media, especially FaceBook, “is both the epitome of networked individualism… and of the networked operating system as a whole” (Rainie & Wellman, 2012, p.225). Technologies like FaceBook supplement face-to-face interaction, they don’t replace it. Finally, the authors conclude by urging readers not to assume that someone is lonely or isolated just because they are sitting alone; Internet access and smartphones allow people to be connected even when they seem alone.