The Value Of Cyber-Friendship

(image from groovy greets)

Cyberspace has given way to a new social dynamic where people make friends from across the globe, but know little of their next-door neighbor. The abandoning of the village mentality disturbs critics, but those who've been won over often find an Internet relationship more satisfying. Some new research is showing also how email and the Internet supplement, rather than replace, the communication people have with others in their network.
Critics say, people are unlearning how to naturally interact with their neighbors creating a social (and assumedly superficial and false) network of strangers (and perhaps creating an alternate reality).
A report suggests a different scenario altogether. Sociologists are suggesting that the Internet helps cultivate social networks and put them into action when it matters most.
Internet and email provide a social and informational repository that help people make difficult decisions and face challenges. The survey found that Internet users are more likely than non-users to have been helped by those in their networks as they faced important events in their life.
"The Internet and the cell phone have transformed communication: Instead of being based on house-to-house interactions, they are built on person-to-person exchanges,... This creates a new basis for community. Rather than relying on a single community for social support, individuals often must actively seek out a variety of appropriate people and resources for different situations," says the report.
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