From the Publisher: 
A Question of Identity 
Life on the Screen is a fascinating and wide-ranging investigation of the impact of computers and networking on society, peoples' perceptions of themselves, and the individual's relationship to machines. Sherry Turkle, a Professor of the Sociology of Science at MIT and a licensed psychologist, uses Internet MUDs (multi-user domains, or in older gaming parlance multi-user dungeons) as a launching pad for explorations of software design, user interfaces, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life, agents, "bots," virtual reality, and "the on-line way of life." 
Turkle's discussion of postmodernism is particularly enlightening. She shows how postmodern concepts in art, architecture, and ethics are related to concrete topics much closer to home, for example AI research (Minsky's "Society of Mind") and even MUDs (exemplified by students with X-window terminals who are doing homework in one window and simultaneously playing out several different roles in the same MUD in other windows). Those of you who have (like me) been turned off by the shallow, pretentious, meaningless paintings and sculptures that litter our museums of modern art may have a different perspective after hearing what Turkle has to say. 
This is a psychoanalytical book, not a technical one. However, software developers and engineers will find it highly accessible because of the depth of the author's technical understanding and credibility. Unlike most other authors in this genre, Turkle does not constantly jar the technically-literate reader with blatant errors or bogus assertions about how things work. Although I personally don't have time or patience for MUDs,view most of AI as snake-oil, and abhor postmodern architecture, I thought the time spent reading this book was an extremely good investment.

스크린 위의 삶 = Life on the screen : identity in the age of the internet

How does the Internet affect social capital? Do the communication possibilities of the Internet increase, decrease, or supplement interpersonal contact, participation, and community commitment? This evidence comes from a 1998 survey of 39,211 visitors to the National Geographic Society Web site, one of the first large-scale Web surveys. The authors find that people's interaction online supplements their face-to-face and telephone communication without increasing or decreasing it. However, heavy Internet use is associated with increased participation in voluntary organizations and politics. Further support for this effect is the positive association between offline and online participation in voluntary organizations and politics. However, the effects of the Internet are not only positive: The heaviest users of the Internet are the least committed to online community. Taken together, this evidence suggests that the Internet is becoming normalized as it is incorporated into the routine practices of everyday ...

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Does the Internet Increase, Decrease, or Supplement Social Capital? : Social Networks, Participation, and Community Commitment

The Internet is a critically important research site for sociologists testing theories of technology diffusion and media effects, particularly because it is a medium uniquely capable of integrating modes of communication and forms of content. Current research tends to focus on the Internet's implications in five domains: 1) inequality (the “digital divide”); 2) community and social capital; 3) political participation; 4) organizations and other economic institutions; and 5) cultural participation and cultural diversity. A recurrent theme across domains is that the Internet tends to complement rather than displace existing media and patterns of behavior. Thus in each domain, utopian claims and dystopic warnings based on extrapolations from technical possibilities have given way to more nuanced and circumscribed understandings of how Internet use adapts to existing patterns, permits certain innovations, and reinforces particular kinds of change. Moreover, in each domain the ultimate social implications of t...

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Social Implications of the Internet

The Internet is the latest in a series of technological breakthroughs in interpersonal communication, following the telegraph, telephone, radio, and television. It combines innovative features of its predecessors, such as bridging great distances and reaching a mass audience. However, the Internet has novel features as well, most critically the relative anonymity afforded to users and the provision of group venues in which to meet others with similar interests and values. We place the Internet in its historical context, and then examine the effects of Internet use on the user's psychological well-being, the formation and maintenance of personal relationships, group memberships and social identity, the workplace, and community involvement. The evidence suggests that while these effects are largely dependent on the particular goals that users bring to the interaction—such as self-expression, affiliation, or competition—they also interact in important ways with the unique qualities of the Internet communicat...

The Internet and Social Life

List of Figures. List of Tables. Foreword: The Virtual Community in the Real World. (Howard Rheingold). Series Editora s Preface: The Internet and the Network Society . (Manuel Castells). Introduction: The Internet in Everyday Life. (Caroline Haythornthwaite and Barry Wellman). Part I: Moving The Internet Out Of Cyberspace. The internet in Everyday Life: An Introduction. (Caroline Haythornthwaite and Barry Wellman). Part II: The Place Of The Internet In Everyday Life. 1. Days and Nights on the Internet. (Philip Howard, Lee Rainie, and Steve Jones). 2 The Global Villagers: Comparing Internet Users and Uses Around the World. (Wenhong Chen, Jeffrey Boase and Barry Wellman). 3 Syntopia: Access, Civic Involvement and Social Interaction on the Net. (James Katz and Ronald Rice). 4 Digital Living: The Impact (or Otherwise) of the Internet in Everyday British Life. (Ben Anderson and Karina Tracey). 5 The Changing Digital Divide in Germany. (Gert Wagner, Rainer Pischner and John Haisken--DeNew). 6 Doing Social Science Research Online . (Alan Neustadtl, John Robinson and Meyer Kestnbaum). Part III: Finding Time For The Internet. 7 Internet Use, Interpersonal Relations and Sociability: A Time Diary Study. (Norman Nie, D. Sunshine Hillygus and Lutz Erbring). 8 The Internet and Other Uses of Time. (John Robinson, Meyer Kestnbaum, Alan Neustadtl and Anthony Alvarez). 9 Everyday Communication Patterns of Heavy and Light Email Users. (Janell Copher, Alaina Kanfer and Mary Bea Walker). Part IV: The Internet In The Community. 10 Capitalizing on the Net: Social Contact, Civic Engagement and Sense of Community. (Anabel Quan--Haase and Barry Wellman). 11 The Impact of Computer Networks on Social Capital and Community Involvement in Blacksburg. (Andrea Kavanaugh and Scott Patterson). 12 The Not So Global Village of Netville. (Keith Hampton and Barry Wellman). 13 Gender and Personal Relationships in HomeNet. (Bonka Boneva and Robert Kraut). 14 Belonging in Geographic, Ethnic and Internet Spaces. (Sorin Matei and Sandra Ball--Rokeach). Part V: The Internet At School, Work And Home. 15 Bringing the Internet Home: Adult distance learners and their Internet, Home and Work worlds. (Caroline Haythornthwaite and Michelle Kazmer). 16 Where Home is the Office: The New Form of Flexible Work. (Janet Salaff). 17 Kerala Connections: Will the Internet Affect Science in Developing Areas?. (Teresa Davidson, R. Sooryamoorthy and Wesley Shrum). 18 Social Support for Japanese Mothers Online and Offline . (Kakuko Miyata). 19 Shopping Behavior Online. (Robert Lunn and Michael Suman). Index

The Internet in everyday life

This article adds to the debate over whether easy access to the Internet is the only outcome of community computer network projects or if there are tangible impacts to these initiatives. Building from Putnam's links between quality of life, community involvement, and social capital, the authors provide evidence as to the quality-of-life implications of the community computer network known as the Blacksburg Electronic Village (BEV). The results of the longitudinal study indicate frequent and increasing use of the BEV and the Internet for local, social-capital-building activities. However, there is no trend toward an increase in community involvement or attachment except in a subset of the population that scores high on measures of preexisting community involvement. The results offer Putnam justification for his claims about the Internet's role in social capital formation.

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The Impact of Community Computer Networks on Social Capital and Community Involvement

The article reports three studies of gratifications obtained from the household telephone by samples of respondents in Columbus (Franklin County), Ohio, and a statewide sample of Ohio. The first study consisted of open-ended qualitative interviews to ascertain reasons for using the household telephone. In the second study, gratifications questions were administered to a sample of 569 respondents from the Columbus area. A factor analysis clearly demonstrated the presence of two factors: sociability and instrumentality. Evidence suggestive of a third factor was obtained as well. In the third study, gratification questions were administered to a sample of 525 residents of the state of Ohio. A factor analysis clearly demonstrated the presence of a third factor: reassurance. Whereas the reassurance factor is a psychological-level variable, the sociability factor is linked to the process of social integration and the instrumentality factor is tied to a social process called coordination.

The Gratifications of the Household Telephone: Sociability, Instrumentality, and Reassurance

The authors show that although there is increasing competition between cable television, broadcast television, and radio, broadcast television remains a strong competitor and has not yet been displaced by cable television in the advertising market. Radio still remains competitive, but not to the degree of broadcast television. The authors suggest that cable television will not rapidly overwhelm and push broadcast industries out of the market.

Competition between the cable and broadcast industries: A niche analysis

The Impact of Community Computer Networks on Social Capital and Community Involvement in Blacksburg

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Scott J. Patterson

Papers

The Impact of Community Computer Networks on Social Capital and Community Involvement

The Gratifications of the Household Telephone: Sociability, Instrumentality, and Reassurance

Competition between the cable and broadcast industries: A niche analysis

The Impact of Community Computer Networks on Social Capital and Community Involvement in Blacksburg

The Impact of Computer Networking on Community: A Social Network Analysis Approach