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Internet Use and Social Contacts
Building: Main Venue Building
Room: foyer
Date: 2017-02-08 03:30 PM – 04:30 PM
Last modified: 2017-01-23
Abstract
How does the Internet affect our social lives and relationships? While this question has intrigued researchers and the public alike, empirical evidence has long been only from small-scale studies and mostly associational. Predictions can go both ways: the Internet might increase social isolation and reduce the time to meet others and to engage in social activities; conversely, it might ease social interactions and contacts. We use high-quality and large-scale survey data from 32~European countries over a period of eight years, also relying on the regional time-space variation in Internet usage as an instrumental variable. Our analyses show that Internet users tend to report meeting friends and relatives more frequently and feel less lonely. Yet, having a discussion partner or not and taking part in social activities more often than others are unrelated to Internet usage.