Introduction

Abstract

The increasing presence of the Internet in our everyday life raises important questions about what it means for access to resources, social interaction, and commitment to local community. This special issue of the American Behavioral Scientist brings together seven U.S., one U.K., one Canadian, and one North American study that examine the way in which the Internet competes with and complements everyday life. These studies show the Internet as a complex landscape of applications, purposes, and users. This introduction summarizes results from studies in this issue and other extant recent surveys, providing an overview of the Internet population and its activities, statistics that help define and articulate the nature of the digital divide. The authors move from there to consideration of the social consequences of adding Internet activity to our daily lives, exploring how use of the Internet affects traditional social and communal behaviors such as communication with local family and commitment to geographical communities. They conclude with a look at how these studies reveal the integration of the Internet into our everyday lives.