It is common for the public, policymakers and scholars in each generation to say "Things ain't what they used to be". Indeed, I started off my "Community Question Re-evaluated" paper with that quote way back in the early 1980s, when folks were talking about the death of community (way before Bob Putnam did so). I look forward to reading the Dumbest book and seeing what systematic evidence the author provides. In my experience, Internet scholarship keeps showing net positive benefits while the media keeps going oi gevalt! Government plays it both ways -- worrying about cyberstalking, etc but getting all excited about the new world of the Internet superhighway. YMMV, Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology University of Toronto 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php Elvis wouldn't be singing "Return to Sender" these days **** PLEASE NOTE NEW ADDRESS AND FAX NUMBER **** _______________________________________________________________________