Professor Barry Wellman of the University of Toronto in Canada has invented a term to describe the way many North Americans interact these days. The term is _ . This concept is not easy to understand because the words seem to have opposite meanings. How can we be individuals and be networked at the same time? You need other people for networks. Here is what Professor Wellman means. Before the invention of the Internet and e-mail, our social networks included live interactions with relatives, neighbors, and friends. Some of the interaction was by phone, but it was still voice to voice, person to person, in real time. A recent research study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that for a lot of people, electronic interaction through the computer has replaced this person-to-person interaction. However, a lot of people interviewed for the Pew study say that's a good thing. Why? In the past, many people were worried that the internet isolated us and caused us to spend too much time in the imaginary world of the computer. But the Pew study discovered that the opposite is true. The Internet connects us with more real people than expected--helpful people who can give advice on careers, medical problems, raising children, and choosing a school or college. About 60 million Americans told Pew that the Internet plays an important role in helping them make major life decisions. Thanks to the computer, we are able to be alone an together with other people--at the same time! According to the Pew study, what do many people rely on to make major life decisions?
Networks. Friends. Phones. Parents.