(Source: InternetWeek http://www.internetwk.com, emphasis & subtitle added, Feb 25, 2000)
Stop Bits: This Web-Age Tide Can?t (sic) Be Turned Back
(Is the Web Making us More/Less Social? Rutgers study cited)

Question: Is the Internet making people socially isolated? Automated reply: I'm busy surfing the Web right now, please leave your question in my inbox, and I'll e-mail you tomorrow.

Frequent Internet users are spending less time with friends and family because they are spending more time using their Web connections for work and play, according to a study by Stanford University's Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society.

About one-quarter of serious Internet users--those who are online at least five hours a week--are spending ever-more time on the Web and giving up the time they used to spend talking with loved ones in person or on the phone, the study said.

And they're working more, too. Almost 30 percent of regular Internet users who responded to the Stanford study said they are doing more work at home via the Web, but only 4 percent said they are working less at the office. If that figure holds up, companies like Ford Motor and Delta Air Lines stand to make significant profits by putting free computers in every employee's home.

Are we in danger of becoming a bunch of workaholic misfits? Those who have studied the question don't think so. Stanford professors said there is a real risk of isolation, since more people are becoming serious Internet users and the trend toward isolation is proportional to the length of time users have been online.

But researchers at other universities, including Rutgers and Vanderbilt, said the Internet is in fact making people more social. They said the Web is putting people in closer touch, eliminating distance and creating new friendships. More than 1 million people have had online meetings that led to face-to-face relationships, according to a Rutgers study.

It's easy to argue on either side, but neither argument will change the simple fact that people are going to spend increasingly more time online. One study suggests that children born this year will spend more than one-quarter of their lives on the Internet.

By giving employees home PCs, Ford and Delta are simply embracing the inevitable. Yes, many people will use home connections to work more. But most employees already use their work computers to trade stocks or browse eBay. People aren't necessarily changing their views on how much they work; they simply want more freedom to decide when they will do it.

What does all this mean for business? More online customers, of course. But it also means that businesses will have to change the way they view their employees' activities. Rather than resisting personal use of the Web, companies such as Ford and Delta are finding ways to take advantage of it. And that trend will continue, regardless of whether the Web is good or bad for society.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go talk to a friend--via e-mail, of course. -- Tim Wilson

Got a pet peeve, industry view or humorous observation about our industry? E-mail it to us at stopbits@cmp.com.

(For class discussion: So are we more or less social because of the Web?)