items of interest

with contributions from Jeanne McDowell, Bill McKibben

Earlier this year a major study of 4,113 adults in 2,689 households revealed that 25% of the participants who use the Internet more than five hours a week feel that it has reduced the time they spend with friends and family or attend events outside the home. Of this same group of regular users, 60% say that the Internet has reduced their television viewing. One-third spend less time reading newspapers.

The study was conducted by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society and was led by Professor Norman Nie of Stanford along with Professor Lutz Erbring of the Free University of Berlin.

Professor Nie feels that time on the Internet is reducing people's ability and willingness to deal with each other face to face. He said, "E-mail is a way to stay in touch, but ... you can't ... give [someone] a hug [via the Internet]."

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

items of interest

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access