E-mail healthy part of social life, report says
PORTLAND (AP) - A new study suggests that women are more likely than men to forge or renew relationships by e-mail, indicating they are using the Internet to expand a healthy social life.
An estimated 9 million American women went online for the first time in the past six months, according to the Pew Internet and American Life study.
Some families even reported that e-mail had become their primary means of communication. As one woman in the study said, it freed her to ``communicate in little, odd stretches of time without having to give up a lot of the day.''
The results were presented in Portland at a weekend ``Internet summit'' of top researchers during the annual meetings of the American Association for Public Opinion Research and the World Association for Public Opinion Research.
``In general, Internet users have more robust social lives than nonusers,'' said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew study.
The report appears to contradict at least two major studies, including a February report by Norman Nie and Lutz Erbring, Stanford University professors who found increased Internet use decreases the time spent with friends and family.
Nie said the Pew study does not adjust for the fact that Internet users - who are usually more affluent and educated than the general population - may already have stronger social networks.
He was disappointed that some surveyed said they liked e-mail ``because they could stay in touch with family members without having to spend so much time talking to them.''
``I'm concerned with the disappearance of the number of places we have to have face-to-face conversations,'' he said.
The reaction of other Internet researchers was mixed.
``I'm not convinced by either side'' said Horst Stipp, director of social and developmental research at NBC Television in New York.
He said the results of both surveys may reflect other biases because of the questions asked.
John Robinson, a leading expert on behavior, said he has uncovered little evidence that Internet users are more or less socially engaged than anyone else.
The University of Maryland sociologist said research suggests that Internet users are not spending less time socializing or using other media less and that they appear to be reading more. Respondents do, however, seem to be spending less time sleeping and pursuing hobbies.
Those conclusions are different from studies Robinson conducted during the 1960s when television sparked a similar field of research. In 1965, TV viewing apparently cut the time spent socializing by an average of 21 minutes a day.
Michael Margolis, a University of Cincinnati professor and co-author of ``Politics as Usual,'' said that people have less interest in politics and civic affairs online than sports, entertainment, shopping or gathering information - in other words, they are simply using the Internet to find the same things that have always interested them.
``Virtual reality has grown to resemble the real world,'' Margolis said. | 
