Physical Place and Cyberplace: The Rise of Personalized Networking

Abstract

Computer networks are social networks. Social affordances of computer‐supported social networks – broader bandwidth, wireless portability, globalized connectivity, personalization – are fostering the movement from door‐to‐door and place‐to‐place communities to person‐to‐person and role‐to‐role communities. People connect in social networks rather than in communal groups. In‐person and computer‐mediated communication are integrated in communities characterized by personalized networking.

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