Untitled - socium.ge

224 Keith N. Hamptondid so to seek advice and social support. In fact, the proportion of Internetusers who used e-mail to seek advice and support from family membersincreased between 2000 and 2001 (see table 9.1). The percentage who e-mailed family members to seek advice increased from 45 percent in 2000 to56 percent in 2001; the percentage who e-mailed about something that worriedthem increased from 37 percent to 44 percent. Not only did the tendency toseek advice and raise worries with kinship relations increase with Internetexperience, but it was particularly pronounced amongst the newest of Internetusers. As a larger proportion of the population goes online, the proportion ofInternet users in a person’s social network generally increases, and it becomesincreasingly easier for both new and more experienced users to use e-mail andother Internet technologies in the exchange of social support.Internet studies that recognize the potential for computer-mediated communicationto be used in maintaining social ties, and examine the network ofpeople’s social relations, on- and off-line, generally conclude with more optimisticresults about the fate of social relationships in the network society. Still,in examining the role of this new technology in everyday life, few havedirectly addressed concerns about the relationship between Internet use andprivatism. The Internet may be connecting people on- and off-line, but is itTable 9.1Seeking advice from family (% answering yes)Do you e-mail a familymember for advice?Do you e-mail a familymember about somethingyou are worried about?All users 2001 56 44All users 2000 45 37Long-wired in 2001 60 46Long-wired in 2000 49 41Mid-range in 2001 51 45Mid-range in 2000 42 37Newcomers in 2001 58 45Newcomers in 2000 45 33Brand newbies 55 41Note: Questions asked of all Internet users who e-mail family members.n = 862 for March 2001; n = 723 for March 2000.Long-wired = online > 3 years; mid-range = online 2–3 years; newcomers = online 1 year in 2000;brand newbies = came online between 3/00 and 3/01.Source: Horrigan and Rainie (2002)