Friday 18 May 2012
Poster Session: 1:00 - 2:30 pm (Enterprise Square atrium)
Lecture: 2:30 - 4:30 pm (Room 2-926, Enterprise Square)
Speaker: Dr. Keith Hampton, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University
Keeping it Real? The Good, the Bad, and the Data on How New Media are Affecting Our Relationships
Abstract:
There is considerable debate as to whether new media enhance or detract from the intimacy and diversity of people's social relationships. Indeed, the stakes are high. The structure of a person's social network is predictive of a range of social outcomes related to trust, tolerance and support. If we are more isolated, less supported and more inward looking as a result of these technologies, the availability of informal support will diminish, it will be increasingly difficult to recognize and understand opposing points of view, and so may decline the foundations of civic society and an informed and deliberative democracy. This presentation explores a series of quantitative and qualitative studies of how new media are used in everyday life, their relationship to the size and diversity of people's social networks, participation in "real" and virtual settings, and outcomes related to political, civic, and civil engagement.
Dr. Hampton's biography at http://www.mysocialnetwork.net/
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