Loved this reading – what a great summary and introduction to many relevant ideas. Liked the way main myths about the internet were quickly dispelled, and how the overwhelmingly positive aspects were stated and reinforced with good research. The Internet is not a substitute but enhances social interaction, and is not gender specific, however there is an effect of social withdrawal that is a result of heavier Internet use – but no facts (hours per day for example) were given. Castells draws on many ground-breaking and interesting research to demonstrate his points, from internet ‘suburbs’ in Canada to households in Canberra. He uses new and useful phrases to explain his points: ‘networked individualism’, ‘privatisation of sociability’, ‘me-centred networks’ and ‘families of choice’ He talks about social ties in terms of strength, and points out that even the ‘weak’ ties are positive ones where social contact was maintained in a way that it wouldn’t have been had it required physical effort.
