MIT Media Lab Colloquium series

Keith Hampton

Social Networks and Internet Use:
The Growth of Privatism in the
Public and Parochial Realms?

Monday October 1, 2007
Bartos Theater
4:00-5:30 pm

How has the everyday use of new information and communication technologies transformed the structure and maintenance of personal support networks? Internet use has increased overall network size and communication with social ties. However, there is also evidence to suggest that new media use systematically displaces social ties in the public and parochial realms, ties that enable the formation of diverse networks and play an important role in opinion formation and democratic participation. Based on a series of empirical studies of Internet use in neighborhoods, and wireless Internet use in public parks, plazas, markets, and cafes, this presentation addresses the question of whether Internet use facilitates privatism; social networks that are increasingly dominated by kin and close friends in private spheres of interaction.

Bio: Keith N Hampton is an assistant professor at the Annenberg School for communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining the Annenberg School, he was Assistant Professor and Class of '43 Career Development Chair in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Toronto. Prof. Hampton is currently Chair of the American Sociological Association's section on Communication and Information Technologies. He has published extensively on the subject of new media, social networks, and the urban environment.