» Social Effects

Social Cohesion, or Fragmentation?

"Social capital" is community cohesion, built up and manifested over time through enduring institutions, relationships, and common norms. Communities with more social capital can conduct activities more efficiently, and individuals are more likely to help one another in times of need.¹³ Since they facilitate social interaction, ICTs have the potential both to reinforce existing social ties and to create new forms of social capital.¹⁴ Individuals around the world can unite around common issues, values and interests. Paul Resnick emphasizes the potential value of "sociotechnical capital," which is composed of "productive combinations of social relations and information and communication technology."¹⁵

There are several ways, however, in which reliance on ICTs for social contact can diminish the formation of social capital:

Isolation – Early research on the Internet and the home suggested that extensive use of ICTs could lead to social isolation, but current findings suggest that this might be largely an initial "novelty effect" which reverses as the fascination of a new medium wears thin. Other research suggests that many people, particularly high school age children, use ICTs extensively for communicating with peers both locally and over long distances. Individuals with maladies that prevent normal social contact have used ICTs to reach out for support. Some theoretical work suggests the possibility that extensive use of ICTs, particularly if it results in a concurrent decrease in face-to-face human interaction, can have problematic psychosocial effects. Some have also claimed that excessive use of ICTs can pull individuals away from their geographically-based local communities, leading to social alienation and depression. Empirical support for this view is lacking, however.
Lack of communication "richness" - Many authors have pointed out the importance of the "richness"¹⁶ of ICTs. Email, for example, does not provide all the physical cues (body position, voice inflection, gestures, etc.) of face-to-face conversation, which makes it less rich as a channel or medium of communication. A great deal of work in the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) has focused on efforts to build more richness into ICTs, in order to better support communication at a distance. Others have contend that we should not attempt to replace face-to-face interaction, but should instead focus ICT design on aspects that are "beyond being there,"¹⁷ e.g. the persistence and searchability of email. In a recent review of much of this literature, Gary and Judy Olson argue that ICTs can be designed to address many of the factors necessary for collaboration, but, in many important ways "distance still matters"¹⁸ and should not be ignored.
Narrowing of social circles - Many of the same attributes of ICTs that allow for the extension of social circles also provide the potential for narrowing of relationships and the fragmentation society into isolated groups. Since ICTs make it much easier to communicate across a distance, one can more easily choose one's communication partners and sources of information.¹⁹ The down side of this sort of customization — what Nicholas Negroponte calls the "daily me"²⁰ — is that it gives one the option of avoiding contrary views and people unlike oneself. Within some communities of interest, this can form self-reinforcing cycles of beliefs and even anti-social behaviors.²¹

As with so many other issues discussed in this report, the relationship between ICTs and social capital is neither simple nor static. The essential lesson from this literature is that ICTs can be used to create, promote and enhance valuable social relationships, but only if one recognizes the risks and limitations of any given technology. One should also keep in mind that not all social ties are created equal. Weak ties are an extremely important form of social capital, since they allow us to expand our social networks.²² Joining a community of practice also often requires spending some time as a "legitimate peripheral participant,"²³ observing the practices of the group before becoming a core member. ICTs can often facilitate these processes, augmenting rather than replacing the sort of rich interaction that can only take place face-to-face.

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