Email Use in Personal Networks: Insights from the Connected Lives Project

About

In addition to its use as an information source, the Internet has become a significant tool for social coordination. Planning trips, maintaining ties and scheduling interactions can take place through the Internet as well as other media. Cluster analyses show that email use, unlike the telephone, is done in concert with other media.

Data for this talk comes from the Connected Lives project, a multi-stage study done in 2005 in Toronto, Canada under the supervision of Barry Wellman. The talk will present findings from both the surveys (n=350) and follow-up interviews (n=87). The interviews employ a novel social network generation tool in addition to semi-structured interviews.