, 2007].
     

CHAPTER 1: AMERICA AND THE INTERNET:
ACCESS, INVOLVEMENT AND SOCIAL INTERACTION
Sense-Making the Internet
Three Central Social Issues of the Internet:
Access, Civic and Community Involvement, and Social Interaction and Expression
Major Dystopian Liabilities Claimed
Major Utopian Possibilities Proclaimed
Syntopian Realities

PART I: ACCESS

CHAPTER 2.  ACCESS: BASIC ISSUES AND PRIOR EVIDENCE
Conceptualization and Consequences of Access
Dystopian Perspective
Utopian Perspective
Conclusion

CHAPTER 3. ACCESS AND DIGITAL DIVIDE: RESULTS
Factors Influencing Awareness and Usage
Percent of Nonusers and Users across the Survey Years
A Persistent, but Declining, Digital Divide
Differences in Usage by Cohort and Survey Year, Across Demographics
Awareness
Combined Influences on Usage and Awareness
Users, 1995 and 2000
Results from PEW March 2000 Survey
Conclusion

CHAPTER 4.  LOGGING OFF: INTERNET DROPOUTS
Results
Discussion
Conclusion

CHAPTER 5: ACCESS AND DIGITAL DIVIDE EXAMPLES
Perspective on the Digital Divide
Access – An Important Human Right
Examples of Access Programs to Overcome Group or Individual Isolation
Access for Self-Identity and Advancing Personal Interests
Reducing Barriers to Accessing Culture
Lack of Perceived Usefulness Limits Interest in Internet Access
Recurring Problems with Past Attempts to Overcome the Digital Divide
Barriers Are Cultural and Social, Not Technological
Conclusion

PART II: CIVIC AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

CHAPTER 6.  CIVIC AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:
BASIC ISSUES AND PRIOR EVIDENCE
Civic and Political Involvement
Community Involvement
A Broader Question of Impacts
Conclusion

CHAPTER 7. POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT: SURVEY RESULTS
Offline and Online Political Activity
Related Results from the Pew 2000 Surveys
Conclusion

CHAPTER 8. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: SURVEY RESULTS
Involvement in Religious, Leisure and Community Organizations
Conclusion

CHAPTER 9. INVOLVEMENT EXAMPLES: EVIDENCE FOR "AN INVISIBLE MOUSE"?
Social Support Networks
Family
Personal Social Networks: Maintaining, Restoring and Affirming
Involvement with Life and Death: Keeping Memory Alive
Sex as Motive for Involvement with The Internet
Community-Building: Political Involvement
Community-Building: Ethnic, Cultural and Historical Affiliation and Enrichment
Community Building: Social and Recreational
Altruistic Endeavors Encourage Involvement Feelings
Negative Consequences of Certain Forms of Involvement
Conclusion

PART III: SOCIAL INTERACTION AND EXPRESSION

CHAPTER 10.  SOCIAL INTERACTION AND EXPRESSION:
BASIC ISSUES AND PRIOR EVIDENCE
Dystopian Perspective
Utopian Perspective
Potential Transformations
Conclusion

CHAPTER 11: SOCIAL INTERACTION: SURVEY RESULTS
Offline Interaction by Users and Nonusers
Additional Analyses for 1995
Additional Analyses for 2000
Online Interaction
Additional Analyses for 1995
Additional Analyses for 2000
Results from the PEW March 2000 Survey
Conclusion

CHAPTER 12.  INTERACTION AND EXPRESSION:
SELF, IDENTITY AND HOME PAGES
What Self?
Counter-Examples to the Postmodern Argument
The Personal Home Page as Presentation of an Integrated Self
Conclusion

CHAPTER 13. INTERACTION AND EXPRESSION EXAMPLES
Interaction to Form Social Ties and Relationships
Self-Expression Is an Important but Underestimated Aspect of the Internet
Self Expression Leads to Interaction with Others
Political Expression
Self-Expression, Self-Identity and Human Memory
Conclusion

PART IV: INTEGRATION AND CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 14.  ACCESS, INVOLVEMENT, INTERACTION AND SOCIAL CAPITAL ON THE INTERNET: DIGITAL DIVIDES AND DIGITAL BRIDGES
Summary of Basic Issues and Survey Results
The Internet, Access, Involvement, Interaction and Social Capital
Conclusion

APPENDIX I:  METHODOLOGY
National Telephone Surveys
Statistical Analyses
User Interviews and Site Samples

APPENDIX II: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FROM SURVEYS
Combined 1995-2000 Survey Data
Selected PEW March 2000 Survey Data

APPENDIX III: ABOUT THE AUTHORS
James E. Katz
Ronald E. Rice

INDEX

LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND BOXES

Tables

Table 1.1. Superlative Praise for the Internet
Table 1.2. Purported Societal Liabilities of a Digital Divide
Table 1.3. Purported Positive Effects of Internet
Table 3.1. Summary Sample Size and Usage Statistics
Table 3.2. Sample Sizes, Chi-Squares, and Etas for Crosstabulations of Variables with Nonusers/Users by Survey Year
Table 3.3. Demographic Variables for Users by Survey Year
Table 3.4. Demographic Variables for Users by Start Year
Table 3.5. Children, Work and Residency, Nonusers and Users, 1995-2000
Table 3.6. Overload and Satisfaction, Nonusers and Users, 1995 and 2000
Table 3.7. Frequencies for Some Recoded Variables, Combined across the Survey Years 1995-2000
Table 3.8. Awareness of Internet by Survey Year
Table 3.9. Logistic Regressions Predicting Awareness and Usage of Internet, 1995-2000
Table 3.10. Extended Logistic Regressions Predicting
Awareness and Usage of Internet, 1995 and 2000
Table 3.11. Motivations for Internet Use, from Nonusers and Users, 1995 and 2000
Table 3.12. Differences in Motives and Obstacles for Recent (less than a year) and Long-Term Users (more than a year)
Table 3.13. Demographic Differences between Nonusers and Users, and between Recent and Long-Term Users, from PEW March 2000 Survey
Table 3.14. Logistic Regressions Predicting Internet User Categories from Demographics, PEW March 2000 Survey
Table 4.1. Dropouts Compared to Users, Overall, and by Year (1995 – 2000)
Table 4.2. Logistic Regressions Predicting Dropouts by Selected Demographics, Overall and by Year (1995-2000)
Table 7.1. Questions About Offline and Online Political Activity, and Political Importance of Media
Table 7.2. Principal Components (Dimensions) of Offline Political Activity, Importance of Media, and Online Political Activity
Table 7.3. Predicting Voting and Offline Political Activity by Demographics and Internet Use/Nonuse
Table 7.4. Predicting Online and Offline Political Activity and Political Importance of Media from Demographics and Internet Usage
Table 7.5. Beliefs Regarding the Personal Impact of the Internet
Table 7.6. Dimensions and Loadings of Outcomes Concerning Political Awareness, Information and Privacy
Table 7.7. Predicting Political Outcomes From Demographics, Online Political Activity, Political Importance of Media, and Internet Usage
Table 8.1. Internet Usage and Community Involvement, 1995 and 2000
Table 8.2. Predictors of Membership in One or More of Three Types of Organizations (Religious, Leisure, Community) by Demographics and Internet NonUser/User, for 1995 and 2000
Table 8.3. Differences in Membership in Mean Number of Total of Three Types of Organizations, for Internet Users and Nonusers, 1995 and 2000
Table 8.4. Predicting Membership in Total of Three Types of Organizations
Table 9.1. The First Eight of the Many Support Groups Listed at Yahoo!
Table 9.2. Genealogy Resources
Table 9.3. Statistics on GenConnect
Table 9.4. Topics for Activists at Protest.net
Table 9.5. Involvement Opportunities as Listed in the Richard Vinroot (R-VA) for Governor Website, Election 2000
Table 9.6. Sample of Websites that Serve Specific Communities of Interest
Table 11.1. Interactions of Internet Users, 1995 and 2000
Table 11.2. Differences in Offline Media Use and Online Interactions, by Types of User and Levels of Expertise, 1995 and 2000
Table 11.3. Logistic Regressions Predicting Offline Media Use and Online Interactions, by Demographics and Types of User and Levels of Expertise, 1995 and 2000
Table 11.4. Sociability and Internet Usage, 1995: Differences and Predictors
Table 11.5. Additional Variables from 2000 Survey
Table 11.6. Differences Between Users and Nonusers on Sociability and Media Measures, 2000
Table 11.7. Predicting Internet Usage/NonUsage, by Sociability and Media Measures, and Controlling for Demographics, 2000
Table 11.8. Predicting Online Interaction from Sociability, Controlling for Demographics and Usage, 1995
Table 11.9. Differences Between Low Belonging and High Belonging Groups on Usage, 2000
Table 11.10. Predicting Online Interaction from Sociability, Controlling for Demographics and Usage, 2000
Table 11.11. Differences in Media Use and Sociability between Nonusers and Users, and between Recent and Long-Term Users, from PEW March 2000 Survey
Table 11.12. Online and Email Activities, Asked of Various Subsets of User, from the PEW March 2000 Survey
Table 11.13. Correlations between Selected Outcomes and Usage Measures, PEW March 2000 Survey
Table 11.14. Linear Regressions Predicting Selected Outcomes from Usage Measures, PEW March 2000 Survey
Table 12.1. Limitations of Privacy on the Internet
Table 12.2. Example of Anonymity on a Listserve
Table 12.3. Follow-up Example of Anonymity on a Listserv
Table 13.1. Student Opinions about "Dating" Relationships that Develop On-Line
Table 13.2. Comparative Attributes of Online Dating Services
Table 13.3. Selected Listing of the Largest Archives of "Fan" Fiction and Number of Stories, July 2001
Table 14.1.  Definition, Rationale and Action Environment of Competing Theories of Social Capital
Table AI.1.  Sample (1995) Demographics Versus U.S. Census Data
Table AI.2. Sample (Nov 1996) Demographics versus U.S. Census Data
Table AII.1. Measures Occurring in at Least Two Surveys, by Survey Year
Table AII.2. Descriptive Statistics for Variables Used from PEW March 2000 Survey (total N=3533)

Figures

Figure 3.1. Percent of Survey Samples Who are Users, Former Users, Aware Nonusers, and Not Aware Nonusers
Figure 4.1. Three User Categories (Aware Nonuser, Dropout, and User) by Income and Age, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2000
Figure 5.1. Survey of Attitudes Towards Internet from Three Access Groups
Figure 14.1. Murder Rate by Putnam Social Capital Index, by City, 1999
Figure 14.2. Murder Rate by Household Penetration of Internet Use, by City, 2000

Boxes

Box 5.1. Local Initiatives Speed Internet's Arrival to Isolated County
Box 5.2. How the Blind Access the Internet
Box 5.3. A Case Study of Homeless Shelter Providing Internet Access
Box 5.4. Local Rock Band Stimulates Fans’ Interest Via Website And Email
Box 5.5.  One Well-Funded Federal Effort to Close the Digital Divide Yields Tepid Results
Box 5.6. Highlights of Marino Institute Report
Box 9.1. Expression of Appreciation for Succor from Support Group
Box 9.2. Reuniting Birth Families via Internet Research
Box 9.3. Game-Makers’ Description of Majestic
Box 13.1. Value of Online Dating, from an Online Journal
Box 13.2. Sara: Looking for a Spouse on the Internet
Box 13.3. Expression Outlet Can Lead to Social Capital Creation: Comments of  a Church Webmaster
Box 13.4. A High School Senior's Confession
Box 13.5. Examples of Blog Self-Descriptions
Box 13.6. Jesse and I Met via My First Webcam Page
Box 13.7. Creative Fiction on the Internet
Box 13.8. Uirapuru, by Eduardo Kac: A Multi-Media Web Art Performance
Box 13.9. Joe Arluck
Box 13.10. Memorial Webpages as Catalysts for Expressions of Grief
Box 13.11. Online Memorial as an Outlet for Grief and Tribute
Box 13.12. Garden of Memories As an Interactive Work-In-Transition