Great discussion on (cyber)space. The paper below of mine links it to longterm discussions in community sociology of space and place. I really like this article, if I do say so myself. Barry Wellman, "Physical Place and Cyber Place: The Rise of Networked Individualism." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 25,2 (June, 2001): 227-52. PS: Nancy Baym discussed the Copher finding, "the more (online), the more offline" in Wellman-Haythornthwaite's Internet in Everyday Life. same finding appears in Quan, et al and Boase, Chen & Wellman, altho we didn't select articles on that basis. Pew studies find the same thing. As does Castells, et al in Catalonia. Bernie Hogan finds a softer version: Internet use doesn't seem to lower other forms of communication (ASA conf, last August). I am starting to think this is a reliable finding, at least in the soft version. Barry, Idiot Clown Professor, among other things _____________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 To network is to live; to live is to network _____________________________________________________________________