Linda Stone, now a consultant, ex MSR, has written smart stuff on "continuous partial attention" which most of us do on and off line. (And well before the internet -- ever talk and drive a car simultaneously). The articles I've seen have been smart essays. I don't know if there has been the psych-type controlled experiments that you may be looking for. Happy Canada Day Weekend! Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________