Has the Internet Reduced Friendship? Scientific Relationships in Ghana, Kenya, and India, 1994-2010

Bibliographic Data

ID5338060
AuthorsWesley Shrum (0000-0001-5040-6584, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA, corresponding author), Antony Palackal (0000-0002-7011-6565, Loyola College of Social Sciences), Dan‐bright S Dzorgbo (University of Ghana), Dan-Bright S Dzorgbo (University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana), Paul N Mbatia (University of Nairobi), Paul Mbatia (University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya), Mark Schafer (0000-0001-6296-8832, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA), Paige Miller (0000-0002-8391-0987, University of Wisconsin, River Falls, WI, USA), H M Rackin (0000-0002-9017-6637, Louisiana State University), Heather Rackin (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA)
Year2017
Volume42
Issue3
Pages491-519
Publication date2017-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0162243916681851
OpenAlexW2604475787
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited22

Has the Internet changed the pattern of social relations? More specifically, have social relations undergone any systematic change during the recent widespread diffusion of new communications technology? This question is addressed using a unique longitudinal survey that bookends the entire period of Internet diffusion in two African nations and one Indian state. We analyze data on nine professional linkages reported by a population of agricultural and environmental scientists in Kenya, Ghana, and Kerala over a sixteen-year period (1994-2010). Factor analysis reveals two clusters of relationships, one interpretable as traditional scientific exchange, the other indicating mediated forms of collaboration. While collaboration increases in frequency, friendship declines. We interpret this shift as a consequence of communications technology that facilitates formal projects, reducing the affective dimension of professional association

Economic growth · Economics · Friendship · Geography · Internet access · Political science · Population · Public relations · Social science · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Survey data collection · The Internet · Complex Network Analysis Techniques · Computer Science · Demography · Social Capital and Networks · Social Media and Politics

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub