Abstract
This panel will explore whether global Internet access pulls people together or pushes them apart. Humans are social creatures, they like to see and be seen. A major factor in Internet adoption has been the opportunity to communicate with others. Email keeps people coming back to the Internet day after day. More recently, Chat has become the communications application of choice, especially for teens. Bulletin boards and Listservs are other communication venues for finding out about others, and telling them about yourself.
Initially, pundits predicted the Internet would be used to communicate with people geographically distant from the user. Actual usage, however, indicated that you are just as likely to mail your partner or classmate as someone far away. In households with multiple computers, you might even chat or email with someone in the other room. Certainly, communities of interest formed around hobbies, games or ideas have spawned many a deep friendship. Romance also blossoms bringing people together whom otherwise would never have met. In all of this, however, is the Internet helping people truly widen their circle of understanding, or are we merely seeking out others like ourselves. Are we really expanding our horizons or merely justifying our personal convictions by finding others who think like us.
As the Internet continues to grow, as access becomes more widespread, as connections become faster, a question remains: will all this connectivity drive us together, or pull us apart?
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