A colleague of mine in computer science wants to develop a deeper understanding of what friendship means in online environments and how it compares with understandings of friendship in offline environments. She is specifically interested in the following two questions and is looking for literature suggestions: 1) Is there research that characterizes friendship in either qualitative or quantitative ways? 2) Is there research that distinguishes the characteristics of online friendships based on the nature of the origin (i.e. was the friendship established prior to online interaction vs during the online interaction)? All literature suggestions appreciated. Many thanks! -- Eden Medina Associate Professor of Informatics Adjunct Associate Professor of History School of Informatics and Computing Indiana University, Bloomington edenm@indiana.edu www.edenmedina.com Learn about "Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile" (MIT Press, 2011) @ www.cyberneticrevolutionaries.com