Abstract
This paper explores the growth of the Internet as a means of mass communication. The paper notes that, as the Internet has developed over the years, more services have been added and users can access huge amounts of information. The author also describes the concerns that are emerging today as to its potential to reduce social interaction and isolate users from the community.

From the Paper
"From the beginning of the Internet as a means of mass communication, critics have seen this development as having the potential to reduce social interaction and isolate users from the community. As more and more types of service are added to the Internet, these concerns have only increased. However, at the same time, the Internet has developed its own sense of community, though certainly this is a community with minimal personal interaction, leaving open the question of how damaging a shift from a face-to-face community to an online community may be.
"Kraut (1998), a professor of social psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, conducted a study and found that the Internet was dangerous to one's social and psychological well being (Plotnikoff, 2001, paras. 1-11)). Tranvik (2001) addresses a the key question when he asks about the new technologies, "will they cause unimaginable levels of social isolation, or will they bring a new society with a friendlier face" (Tranvik, 2001, para. 1). The fear has been that they will bring more isolation, though many users believe they interact more with others online than they do in life. Cyberspace most certainly does constitute a new community to which virtually anyone may belong, and how helpful or harmful this may be will be clear in time."

Tags:technology, online, interaction

Abstract
This paper reveals that far from the utopian vision of a massive sharing of intellectual insights, the Internet has become balkanized and fragmented, which has led to a marked reduction in collaboration on research and discoveries. The paper also explains that the rise in the corporate use of the Internet has driven up the need to validate someone within any online community, leading to the decrease of trust. The paper discusses the novel "1984" by George Orwell that defines a totalitarian state, dominated by excessive monitoring and control of its citizens. The paper applies this to today's pervasive use of monitoring technologies.

Outline:
Introduction
The Internet's Balkanization and the Quantification of Trust
Quantification of trust
Orwellian Monitoring Strategies in the 21st Century
Conclusion

From the Paper
"As the most ubiquitous, debated and increasingly relied on communication medium ever, the Internet has significantly influenced and impacted the lives of literally millions of people globally. The value judgment of whether the Internet has unified versus fragmented or balkanized communities is a subject of far-ranging debate. The one truth beginning to emerge however that is the Internet has increasingly become a medium that invites the creation of one's own unique voice and perspective being instantly available to millions of others. The meteoric rise of blogs, and with them, the influence of all forms of Consumer Generated Media (CGM) is evidence of how individuals are seeking out their own unique identity online. It is debatable however if these many forms of free speech are leading to more fluid movement of intellectual discoveries, insights and documents."

Tags:trust, Orwell, monitoring, freedom, collaboration, fragmentation

Abstract
Discusses Marshall McLuhan's 1959 book UNDERSTANDING MEDIA as predicting electronic communications and the Internet. Interactive computing; access to its various forms. McLuhan's theories regarding "cool" and "hot" technologies and their relationships. Internet as a prime example of incorporating existing media with a new way to access it. How communication on the Internet is accomplished; transmission of files.

From the Paper
"When Marshall McLuhan wrote his book on electronic communication, Understanding Media (1959), he envisioned technological changes supplanting existing media with new media that would incorporate old media an alter the social structure at the same time. He traced such changes through history and showed how they had taken place many times before, with new technologies arriving that incorporated older ones. The new technologies he called "hot," and the old ones "cool." The Internet did not exist when McLuhan wrote this book, but he seems to be predicting just the sort of change that the Internet is bringing.
Interactive computing is found on the Internet, a loose agglomeration of computing networks that enables the user to access vast amounts of information from sources all over the..."

Abstract
This paper examines the Internet as a means of mass communication, which critics have seen as having the potential to reduce social interaction and isolate users from the community. The paper further notes that as more and more types of service are added to the Internet, these concerns have only increased. The paper also notes, however, that the Internet has developed its own sense of community, though certainly this is a community with minimal personal interaction, leaving open the question of how damaging a shift from a face-to-face community to an online community may be.

From the Paper
"From the beginning of the Internet as a means of mass communication, critics have seen this development as having the potential to reduce social interaction and isolate users from the community. As more and more types of service are added to the Internet, these concerns have only increased. However, at the same time, the Internet has developed its own sense of community, though certainly this is a community with minimal personal interaction, leaving open the question of how damaging a shift from a face-to-face community to an online community may be. Kraut (1998), a professor of social psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, conducted a study and found that the Internet was dangerous to..."

Tags:internet, community, relationships

Abstract
This paper explains how the Information Highway will affect the society in a manner that cannot yet be imagined and instead of a means of uniting the world the author feels that the technological revolution is creating a divide within society furthering social stratification and changing the dynamics of interpersonal relationships.

From the paper:

"As the communications revolution reaches its climax the society is increasingly becoming virtual. Millions of Internet users are logging one every day and interacting with each other over the Internet. Where once socialization was limited within borders today, the society is increasingly becoming borderless as the Internet creates a global world. Chat systems like MSN and AOL Messenger, ICQ and MIRC have captured the people's imagination and no longer is there a need to have personal face-to-face meetings. The interactive software's allow a user to have web conferences, meetings and chat with more than one person at a time. Society is becoming impersonal as concepts like 'cyber love' and 'cyber world' emerge. "

Tags:computer, society, dating, relationships

Abstract
This well-researched paper examines the primary motives among young people for using the internet, as well as the manner in which it is being utilized. The writer of this paper identifies current, as well as future trends, which directly impact on the incidences of loneliness among this segment of the population. This paper analyzes the published research, which compares internet addiction to that of alcohol and substance addiction. The research results, presented in this paper, prove that more and more young people are using the internet as an alternative to traditional methods of socialization. The writer contends and explains why the internet has become an avenue of escape, rather than a vehicle of enlightenment. This paper focuses on three specific objectives, consisting of: Identifying the incidence of internet usage among the target population, determining how it's being used by the respondents and assessing the impact of this particular from of communication, on adolescents.

Outline:
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Background of the Problem
Significance of the Problem
Purpose of the Study
Review and Discussion
Impact of Online Experiences on Adolescent Socialization
Quality of Adolescent Relationships Formed Online
Method
Data Analysis
References

From the Paper
"In an online environment, young people may frequently miss out on the opportunities that have traditionally served to shape the values, norms and traditions within a culture. According to Branch, "As adolescents grow physically and cognitively they discover more nuances in themselves and how they impact others. The increased independence that typifies adolescence is labeled as rebellious by some parents, but in many instances, the adolescent's push for autonomy has little to do with the adolescent's feelings toward the parent." "The exact function of the quest for autonomy is less important than the fact that it occurs almost universally. Recent research suggests that seeking autonomy is not necessarily a sign that an adolescent's life will be filled with storm and stress. Instead, the process may proceed quite smoothly if the parents and family of the adolescent are reasonably healthy and accepting of the inevitable change."

Tags:socialization, internet, communication, technology, research, study, youth

Abstract
This paper outlines a study that would focus on the role of relationships online and how they transfer offline, particularly in terms of their development, transition and ramifications. The paper suggests that such a study could help shed some light on the growing role of Internet dating and how it has come to intersect society.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Hypothesis
Methodology
Data Collection and Analysis
Summary
Conclusion
Review of Literature

From the Paper
"Harmon describes the transformation as a gradual one, eased with the lack of promise posed by purely physical relationships. Inherent in her study is the fact that an online relationship may not come to fruition offline; unlike a Friday night dinner date, no one is faced with public humiliation or the awkward kiss good-bye. While her discussion centers on the future of online dating through mutual subjects, her conclusion is profitable for exploring online infidelity. Many relationships cultivated online are now such an integral part of social life that the physical fruition is longer covered in a stigma, suggesting that the relationships based in a chatroom easily extend beyond the cables, power cord, and internet code of conduct."

Tags:ramifications, infidelity, non-internet, life, non-physical, human, being, communication, chatroom

Abstract
The paper discusses how the development of the Internet in the last decades of the 20th century opened the doors to an easy access to a wealth of information by literally clicking a single button. The paper describes how millions of people work, play and communicate in an entirely different way then they did 20 years ago, and these changes have inevitably influenced the society we live in and still continue to shape and change it, particularly since IT technology is improving and advancing almost on daily basis. The paper posits that it is not surprising that increased attention is paid to the relationships between society and information technology.

From the Paper
"The development of the Internet in the last decades of 20th century opened the doors to an easy access to a wealth of information by literally clicking a single button. Millions of people work, play and communicate in an entirely different way then they did 20 years ago. These changes have inevitably influenced the society we live in and still continue to shape and change it, particularly since IT technology is improving and advancing almost on daily basis. It is not surprising that increased attention is paid to the relationships between society and information technology. Social science in particular is trying to study and analyze the effects IT..."

Tags:internet, cultual diversity, fragmentation

Abstract
The paper discusses some of the positive as well as the negative aspects of the Internet and personal relationships. The paper looks at the view that the facilities and technologies that the Internet provides increases the possibilities and opportunities for personal relationships. The paper then considers the view that online interaction can never take the place of real face-to-face interaction in the development of relationships, since Internet relationships lead to a reduction of social cues.

From the Paper
"In the first instance, the internet is all about communication. In other words, the primary function of the Internet is to facilitate easy access to information and to enable rapid and effective modes of communication. Since its inception, the Internet has shown remarkable growth and an increase in technologies that can provide more user-friendly and effective means of communication. This refers in particular to the advent of online forums, chat rooms and, more recently, the increasing popularity of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook."

Tags:social, networks, communication, interaction

Abstract
In this article, the writer discusses how the Internet has changed the behavior and relationships of people and groups where socializing is concerned. The intended consequences of the Internet are discussed and whether or not adaptation in socializing bears out these consequences. Unintended consequences are also highlighted.

From the Paper
"The Internet is now a pervasive technology that has organized people in a new way to complete many tasks from doing business and attending college to obtaining news and socializing. The Internet is a technological creation of a new environment through which people socialize. Like most significant inventions the Internet has the potential to greatly impact how people socialize both in intended and unintended ways. As Affonso notes 'While our culture heralds the Internet as a technological wonder there is evidence that Internet ..."

Tags:communication, culture, society, diversity, interaction, behavior, technology