Virtual Society? Get Real!
Paper abstracts

Virtual Nation-Building in Estonia: Reshaping Space, Place, and Identity in a Newly Independent State
Janet Abbate, University of Maryland, USA, ja134@umail.umd.edu

What happens when virtual practices are built into a nation's social, economic, and political life from the beginning? This paper presents a case study of the Baltic state of Estonia, which gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. When Estonia joined the Internet in 1992, its government agencies and NGOs adopted an ambitious set of policies aimed at using electronic technologies to promote social welfare, economic development, and national unity. The processes of building a virtual society and building a national identity have been closely linked.

Virtual activities in Estonia have been shaped by local material and social conditions and the specific priorities of the Estonian people. Entertainment and shopping have so far taken a back seat to education, personal communication, commercial services such as banking, government information and services, and promoting a new identity for Estonia as a modern Western nation. Attempts to foster a virtual citizenry have faced real limitations, including inadequate funding, a shortage of technical experts, socioeconomic exclusion of the Russian-speaking minority, and a generation gap as older Estonians struggle to adapt to both new technologies and a new political order. Despite these obstacles, in the years since independence Estonians have shifted significant aspects of their political, educational, and economic life online.

Issues be examined include:

• Virtual government: The Estonian government has established a high-profile Internet presence to promote public awareness of and access to its services. Citizens increasingly interact with the government online, using the Internet to contact elected officials, pay taxes, register automobiles, and access national laws and court decisions. Government sites also serve a propaganda function, showcasing Estonia's newly open and democratic institutions for the outside world.
• Virtual regionalism: Since cutting its ties with the Soviet bloc, Estonia has used the Internet to help (re)establish its identity as a "Baltic," "Nordic," or "European" nation. Strategies for strengthening regional ties include adopting EU standards for electronic technologies and participating in Baltic and Scandinavian Internet-based projects in areas such as environmental research and cross-border law enforcement.
• Language and cultural identity: Since Estonians are committed to preserving their native language, the dominance of English on the Internet raises concern. Responses have included efforts to create Estonian-language content and to develop translation software so that citizens can experience the entire Web in Estonian. Another challenge is integrating the sizable Russian-speaking population into the nation's political and economic life; creating Russian-language online resources is seen as one way to further this end.

Virtual Togetherness: A Perspective from Everyday (Real?)Life
Maria Bakardjieva, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, mbakardj@home.com

The objective of this paper is to explore some dimensions of the virtual community concept that relate to questions of user agency and empowering possibilities in the appropriation of the Internet by domestic users. I contend that users' participation in what has been called 'virtual communities' (Rheingold, 1993) over the Internet constitutes a cultural trend of 'immobile socialization', or in other words, socialization of private experience through the invention of new forms of intersubjectivity and social organization online. When I suggest the term immobile socialization, I intentionally reverse Williams' (1974) concept of 'mobile privatization'. Unlike broadcast technology and the automobile that, according to Williams, precipitated a withdrawal of middle-class families from public spaces of association and sociability into private suburban homes, the Internet is being mobilized in a process of collective deliberation and action in which people engage from amidst the private realm. Whether an analyst would decide to call the electronic forums in which this is happening communities or not depends on the notion of community she is operating with. What has to be noted however is that by engaging in different forms of collective practice online users transcend the sphere of the narrowly private interest and experience. Why do they do that? What does it mean to them? How does it reflect on the public understanding of the Internet? The concept of 'virtual community' has been only of limited help to the understanding of this practice and I attempt to explain why in the first part of the paper. 

Few studies of virtual communities (an exception is Turkle, 1995) have related online community engagement with users' everyday-life situations, systems of relevances and goals. Most of the existing research (see Jones, 1995, 1997) has concentrated on the group cultures originating from the online interactions of participants, thus treating online group phenomena in isolation from the actual daily life of the subjects involved. In the second part of this paper, I explore the experiences and motivations that have lead Internet users to get involved, or the opposite, to stay away from forms of virtual togetherness. I believe it is important to understand what kinds of needs and values and under what circumstances virtual communities serve. My reflections are based on an ethnographic study of the practices of 21 domestic users of the Internet in Vancouver. The data were collected through in-depth individual interviews (and group interviews with family members where appropriate). Observational tours of the domestic space where the computer connected to the Internet was located and of the computer 'interior' (bookmarks, address books, etc.) were also performed.

I offer a typology of different forms of online involvement with others demonstrating that virtual community is not always the most accurate notion for describing people's actual social activities online. In fact, virtual togetherness has many variations, not all of them living up to the value-laden name of community. This fact however does not undermine the idea of collective life in cyberspace. On the contrary, I call for appreciation of the different forms of engagement with other people online (virtual togetherness) that exist and the different situated needs they serve. In these multifarious practices I recognize new vehicles that allow users to traverse the social world and penetrate previously unattainable regions of anonymity (Schutz and Luckmann, 1973).

In light of this formulation of the meaning of virtual togetherness, I question the dichotomies between the private and the public, on one hand, and virtual and real community, on the other, that are at the roots of both virtual utopia and dystopia.

Mobile Society? - Technology, distance and presence
Geoff Cooper (Department of Sociology), Nicola Green, Richard Harper and Gerald Murtagh (Digital World Research Centre) , University of Surrey, Guildford, g.cooper@soc.surrey.ac.uk

Recent social scientific investigation of new information and communication technologies has challenged the notion of a ‘virtual society’ and its associated political rhetoric. On the one hand such research has developed a critical orientation to totalizing theoretical terms such as the ‘information age’ or the ‘virtual society’, detailed the problematic assumptions underlying such rhetoric, and asked questions about the technological determinism implied. On the other hand, this research has argued for the importance of focusing attention onto the situated social and material uses of technologies which turn out to be crucial for both the achievement and the understanding of ‘virtuality’: this has highlighted the dynamic constitution of everyday life, and the multiple social and technological strategies that embed technical objects in ongoing social activity.

This paper considers and reformulates the relation of the virtual and the everyday in relation to the use of mobile telecommunications, highly dynamic technologies which, we suggest, pose particular analytical challenges which may have general significance for thinking about ‘virtual societies’. The mobile in its current form has, in comparison with other technologies, a somewhat equivocal status as a ‘new medium’ or a means of access to third, virtual or cyber space. In the first place, it is based on an older (though from certain perspectives no less strange) form of telecommunication, remote voice communication. In the second, it is currently part of a process of convergence which, at least as far as technical capacity goes, will allow access to a range of information and communication services from any point. What is projected is an unprecedented level of integration of virtual and everyday life, to the extent that these very categories – notwithstanding the problems they already have – will become radically indistinct. The (social) form that this convergence will actually take remains a matter of speculation. However, the use of the mobile, even in its current form, does have a particular analytic value: for, more so than any other technology, it constitutes a conjunction of (if not virtual) remote and co-present communication. This is our focus.

Based on detailed ethnographic research, we examine the situated use of mobile devices. Rather than attempting to make direct metaphysical judgements on what constitutes virtuality or reality, we look at the co-existence and management of distant and co-present communication in public spaces. By focusing on the highly dynamic and fluid contexts of use for mobile technologies in everyday life, we are able to interrogate the complex and changing relationship between distance and presence, and its implications for a number of associated concepts, such as the private and the public. We investigate how existing relations are dynamically ‘mapped into’ mobile devices, and how the technologies mediate social relationships in new ways (through both use and resistance). Finally, we argue that assertions about the imminence of the ‘mobile society’ and the ‘virtual society’ may be obscuring more visible and even routine forms of existing behaviour which are, when considered properly, no less remarkable.

Exploding the myth of the cyberkid: exploring low use and ambivalent attitudes to computers amongst young people
Keri Facer, Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol. Keri.Facer@bristol.ac.uk

"Suspicion among the old, excitement among the young in the face of the information revolution". (9 oclock news, BBC1, 07/03/00)
"Everything I do on a computer’s a disaster anyway" (10 year old girl, Somerset)

What does it mean for young people to be ‘excluded’ from the information revolution through lack of access to hardware, or to dislike using a computer in a society that says that all young people are ‘cyberkids’ ? At present, concerns over a developing information ‘underclass’ tend to focus on an adult population attempting to come to terms with unfamiliar technologies. In contrast, young people’s access to and use of new technologies is frequently conceptualised by both politicians and the press as ‘natural’ and unproblematic. Moreover, research evidence frequently reproduces this image of children as natural computer users by both suggesting that young people have ‘grown up’ with new technologies (Green & Bigum, 1993) and by taking children with high levels of computer use as the focus for research (Downes, 1998; Buckingham & Sefton-Green, 1998; Furlong et al, 2000). 

While much of this debate continues over the heads of young people, however, the role of young people’s aspirations, their media and peer group cultures and practices are rarely explored in the analysis of their seemingly easy appropriation of new technologies. How, for example, is computer use differently valued by groups of young people as diverse as football fanatics, young environmental activists or children excluded from or disenchanted with school ? What role do playground cultures of football, fags and gossip play in determining which children make the most of school ICT provision? Similarly, why might particular aspects of new technologies, such as internet use or games play, be considered desirable to some children while other aspects, such as graphic design or word processing, be rejected ? While adult ‘technophobia’ is a subject for concern amongst policy makers, the difficulties or anxieties that some children may experience when using computers is subordinated to the over-arching image of children as natural computer users, an image supported by the prevalence of computer games play amongst younger age groups. These difficulties or anxieties in computer use may also themselves be subject to shifting definitions, redefined by the norms of computer use prevailing within particular socio-economic groups or peer group cultures. How might, for example, the child in a middle class school with high levels of home computer ownership experience and define exclusion from participation in the growing ‘digital culture’ differently from a child in an area of low ownership? 

This paper draws on an ongoing ESRC research project (Screen Play, 1998-2000) taking place at the Universities of Bristol and Cardiff and the University of Wales College, Newport. Drawing on a survey of 855 young people aged 10 – 14, on 16 case studies of children and their families, on focus group interviews with 48 young people and on video observation of children’s computer use, this paper begins to map out the characteristics of low/ambivalent computer use amongst young people and to argue that the prevalent notion of the ‘cyberkid’ requires re-evaluation.

From Cotton to Computers: ICTs in a post-industrial city
Penny Harvey, Jon Agar and Sarah Green (University of Manchester)

This paper focuses on the historical and social contexts into which ICTs are being introduced to the city of Manchester, in order to explore the interrelationship between these apparently 'space-defying' technologies and the 'place-specific' dynamics of post-industrial cities. Using both ethnographic and historical research, we argue - contrary to claims that ICTs provide 'dislocation' or freedom from spatial location - that place matters. In cities that have a long relationship with technology and the notion of the 'technological fix', location remains crucially important. In fact, far from removing its relevance, the introduction of ICTs are often used to shore up the idea of a place as part of a deliberate policy to promote an image of a city to the world. Beyond this 'image-making' element, the introduction of ICTs also becomes embedded within the complex social, political and economic relations and divisions within the city, in ways that often contradict the apparently space-defying, boundary-crossing, ubiquitously-linking characteristics of ICTs. We conclude that understanding the effects of introducing ICTs to post-industrial urban contexts must include an historical and social understanding of those contexts, as well as an understanding of the technologies themselves.

The reasons for selecting Manchester as the focus for research into this issue are fairly self-evident. The city was amongst the first regional cities in the UK to develop a ‘telematics strategy’ intended to encourage and co-ordinate the city’s IT capacities. With assistance from EU funds, and in partnership with the city’s higher education institutions, local voluntary organisations, charities and private businesses, the City Council has invested heavily in providing the infrastructure to ‘wire up’ Manchester for the ‘Information Revolution’, and to establish itself as a leading networked European city. This effort has been promoted as a natural progression from the city’s history as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, as if the de-industrialisation of the area has been simply making way for the city’s new leading role in the global Information Society. As such, it provides an extremely good example for exploring the dynamics of post-industrial urban encounters with ICTs.

Hacktivism: direct action on the electronic flows of information societies
Tim Jordan (Open University) and Dr Paul Taylor (Sociology, Salford University), T.R.Jordan@open.ac.uk

Hackers have been part of computer networks for as long as such networks have existed and have generated a long-lived community with particular characteristics. These characteristics have been previously delineated by Jordan and Taylor as six internal structures (consisting of technological obsession, secrecy, anonymity, membership fluidity, male dominance and motivational discussions) and the formation of an external boundary through arguments with computer security professionals conducted by proposing different metaphors for hacking and exploring the ethical implications of such metaphors (broadly a debate between hacking as breaking and entering versus hacking as an intellectual game). While political rhetoric, particularly anarchist tropes, have been common within the hacking community, it is in recent years that a particular political movement has emerged from within the hacking community that is often called hacktivism. This paper will present an exploration of the recently emerged and rapidly changing phenomenon of hacktivism. This will be conducted in two parts. First a definition of hacktivism as a social movement will be offered. Second, the characteristic political actions of hacktivists will be defined.

Social movement studies can be broadly summarised, particularly in its European versions, as arguing that social movements are defined by a collectively negotiated identity that provides a sense of unity amidst diverse networks of people, organisations, ideas, events and memories. The diversity of social movements is provided by this decentred web of interactions, often called a 'dis-organisation', whereas unity is provided by a constantly negotiated collective identity. Preliminary outlines of this unity and diversity in hacktivism will be offered. Unity will be explored through the ideologies propounded by self-proclaimed hacktivists and their inspirations, such as the Critical Art Ensemble's call for electronic civil disobedience. Hacktivism's diversity will be introduced by recounting several instances of hacktivism and tracing the complexity of interaction. The actions against WTO computers and the hacking of financial systems in relation to the J18 protest in London will be examined. Finally, the unity and diversity of hacktivism will be related to the nature of the hacking community. On the basis of this broad understanding of hacktivism as a social movement, characteristic hacktivist actions will be divided into two types; already existing actions and novel actions. Within each of these categories actions will be further divided into those that are essentially individual or are essentially collective.

Already existing political actions covers the types of actions hackers have been undertaking for many years but which are now being re-presented as part of hacktivism. The most common form of action here is that which presents itself as a service to the broader computer-user community by identifying either particular insecure systems or particular software faults. This is essentially individualistic in that the specific actions taken rely on individuals putting their skills to the test, rather than many people taking action together. Of course, this does not mean that such hackers are isolated individuals but that the event of their hack may rely on the education and support of a community but is undertaken alone or in small groups. The collective form of old-style hacking is the creation of free software and the open source software movement. Here the emphasis is on experts who collectively hack software, while the benefits theoretically come to all through better software. These two broad types of action are currently being re-presented as political actions from within the hacktivist movement, for example in Cult of the Dead Cow's creation and promotion of BackOrifice (a software tool aimed at demonstrating the insecurity of all Windows based networks).

Hacktivism has not only brought a new ideological edge to existing hacking activities, it has also seen the emergence of new forms of virtual political action. Again these will be conceptually divided according to those that are essentially individual and essentially collective. The first group can be seen in the way some individually based hacks have become politicised, both in the ideologies they propound and in the political associations they are developing. Exemplars of individualist, ideological hacks are the recurrent world-wide web hacks that alter well-known web-sites to produce a political message often the opposite of that intended by the original site. An example of hacks associated with political causes is the reputed attacks mounted in association with the J18 protests in London, where it is claimed that while protestors were breaking into the Liffe exchange from the street hackers were simultaneously taking the electronic road to disrupt the exchange, or the reported hacks of Indian sites following the Indian Government's explosion of nuclear weapons. The second type of new hacks associated with hacktivism are the provisions of tools and a call for a mass of people to participate utilising those tools. An example of this is the attempt to slow and stop the network being utilised by delegates at the 1999 WTO conference in Seattle. This action was conducted by asking people to go to one web-site and use that sites ability to load multiple versions of the WTO site (in the hope that a mass of requests would force the Seattle servers to become blocked).

In conclusion, relations between hacktivism and hacking will be discussed. It will be stressed that the distinctions drawn in the earlier parts of the paper must be treated with care as hacking is a diverse activity and differences between 'old'-style trophy hacking and hacktivism are often small. It will also be noted that hacktivism in its collective forms refers to an older sense of the term hacking, when it meant more than just gaining illicit computer use (or when the distinction between cracking and hacking was more widely understood). Finally, the possibilities for radical political action posed by hacktivism will be discussed. In common with many current social movements it will be noted that hacktivism is most powerful when 'experts' or members of the digital elite become allied with a digital grassroots; alliances in which tools created by the elite can be put to mass use.

ICTs and the 'Pluralization of Life-Worlds': Differentiation Theory Revisited
Leah A. Lievrouw, Department of Information Studies,UCLA, LLievrou@ucla.edu

Communication media are often assumed to be socially integrating by definition. This belief extends to most recent discussions of the Internet and online community (Rheingold, 1993; Jones 1998), empirical studies of the effects of computer-mediated communication and Internet use on sociality (Kraut et al., 1998; Hampton & Wellman, 1999; Nie & Erbring, 2000) and to idealist characterizations of the 'information society' more generally (Webster, 1995).

Nonetheless, separatist sensibilities and declines in broad-based community participation have developed in some places, concurrently with the proliferation and widening adoption of new information and communication technologies (ICTs). Yet few observers have considered whether ICTs contribute to increased social complexity, what role they might play in social differentiation, or whether the new technological infrastructure ramifies larger social sensibilities of difference, incommensurability or conflict.

Elsewhere, I have suggested that ICTs can be used to construct and reinforce separate communities or subcultures that strictly control entrée, exposure to or interaction with other groups (Lievrouw, 1998). Heterotopic communication is the process by which people seek out others most like themselves, articulate and cultivate their distinct interests, biases and world views, and control or exclude conflicting information (including speech). Here, I argue that new technologies also facilitate a continuing shift in contemporary societies toward social differentiation, and possibly social separatism.

This paper asks whether, and in what ways, new media technologies contribute to what Alexander (1990) has called the "pluralization of life-worlds" -- that is, variations in information resources from place to place that may encourage social integration or differentiation. Current perspectives on differentiation theory and 'neofunctionalism' are briefly discussed, and a model is presented which suggests how the generation, circulation and use of information in society creates different social milieux or information environments. The integrating and/or differentiating influences of ICTs on these processes are reviewed.

From the Social to the Virtual … and back again?
Sonia Liff (Warwick University), Fred Steward (Aston Business School) and Peter Watts (Brunel University)

A recurring dystopian vision of the virtual society is one in which people abandon ‘real’ social relations and community participation in favour of a life in cyberspace. Yet in practice people's real and virtual lives are likely to be entwined in various ways – for example by pursuing ‘real’ interests through virtual contacts, meeting people in a social context who were initially encountered on-line, or through creating representations of one’s community in the virtual world. Support for such hypotheses can be found in research in relation to other communication technologies – for example the finding that people telephone most often those people they meet frequently in person.

This paper explores one particularly strong connection between the social and the virtual – access to the internet from a public facility. Drawing on research on community technology centres and internet cafes, the significance of social place for who participates in the virtual world and in what ways is explored. Of particular interest is the way that social relations within the organisation and between the organisation and other social networks is associated with certain patterns of inclusion / exclusion of new users. Drawing on social network analysis the research suggests two routes by which inclusivity is achieved: via strong links into existing communities through shared locations or through staff or users who act as bridges between different networks; or via weak links activated by prominent locations, advertising and the creation of social space co-existing with computer provision. In either case centres which had such links were successful in drawing in new users who did not have a strong existing motivation to learn about computers.

Support for new users of the internet and those with limited experience is one way in which public access organisations act as a ‘gateway’ between the social and virtual worlds. There are further issues about the way these organisations’ culture and practice support particular types of engagement with the virtual world. This can again be analysed in social network terms with particular reference to notions of gatekeeping. Most observed use of the internet – both by centres themselves as well as by their users, was instrumental rather than strongly participatory and this emphasis is also the dominant form of use envisaged in public policy debates. It is argued that this failure to create active users of the internet (particularly in terms of the absence of content creation) may lead to a restricted impact of the virtual on the real and in particular to contribute to new forms of social relations between the social and the virtual.

Finding a Home for New Technology: A virtual ethnography of the social changes in relation to new technology
David Morrison, Robin Brown, Terry Hemmings, Michael Svennevig (University of Leeds)

If the Virtual Society is to become a meaningful framework for understanding the sociology of electronic technologies, those technologies must be integrated into the household and become part of the fabric of everyday life. How this occurs depends not simply on technology as an abstract idea but on the interactions within the social context of the household. Until quite recently the identity of the modern, 'private' household has stood in opposition to the activities of the outside, 'private' world. Developments in electronic technologies and infrastructures provide the possibility of new forms of economic organisation that collapse the distinctive boundaries between work and the home. As Massey argues, the meaning of place is given by its connections to broader social networks of society (Massey 1994); hence, by creating new forms of connection with the outside world, the place that constitutes the household is redefined. In terms of understanding the relevance of the concept of a 'Virtual Society', there must surely be a 'Virtual Household'. Consequently, the central question addressed in this chapter is: To what extent does the introduction of new technologies and infrastructures determine and/or restructure the relationships and everyday routines of the family household?

The 'private' nature of family life has generally proved to be a space and unamenable to empirical investigation. Traditionally, social enquiry using participant observation techniques has, by its very nature, proved to unsuitable for analysis of this 'private' sphere. Social scientists with an interest in everyday family life have usually resorted to procedures that involve interviews or surveys of some kind. However, utilising the latest developments in camera and video technology, analysts at the ICS have developed innovative ways of unobtrusively recording everyday life in domestic settings .The 'Virtual Ethnography ' research team has sought to explore a set of general issues associated with the central question outlined above, together with others which have developed more specifically from the study.

The incorporation of new digital technology into our research methodology has provided away of recording a vast range and amount of video material. During the two year project, sixteen families have participated with ICS researchers, providing rich and detailed datasets. Analysis of this data has allowed us to address the following areas:

• The blurring of differentiation between 'home' and 'work'
  Examples of household interaction provide us with the information that families take part in traditional and new modes of work concomitantly. It appears that people do not necessarily change from old to new forms, but incorporate new technologies into existing forms of organisation.
• How ICT's are used in the 'education' of children
  The study has provided us with a number of examples which illustrate the confusion between information and knowledge. This is exemplified by the section that deals with children doing homework.
• To what extent are ICT's already routine within the households studied?
  The routinisation of the use of information and communication technologies shows that, quantitatively, little time is spent on active use of technologies such as PCs. For instance, the video recordings of the University Professor working from home show that he spends very little time working directly with his PC and, rather, spends proportionately more time using the more traditional technologies - ie. drafting ideas with pen and paper/sitting and thinking.
• The extent to which technology can be found to determine the character of social relations within the household.
  In most cases, parents concerns are orientated towards the completion of homework rather than the mode by which it is delivered - computer/traditional methods - or even its accuracy. Electronic technologies may allow children a level of autonomy from parents viewing behaviour and children themselves seem well aware of the problems associated with the issues of pornography and violence and the need for control.

This chapter will outline our preliminary findings in relation to the areas set out above. The utilisation of new technology in our research design, along with the participation of the families involved in the study, provide distinct strengths. Given the crucial importance of understanding the ways in which ICT's are used in the household setting, for academics, designers and policy-makers alike, we aim to produce findings which can be disseminated to all of these groups, and which are grounded in the data produced by the study. In this way we will avoid the methodological problems associated with the use of conventional interview and survey techniques, and give analysis based directly on the practice, skills, and interactions of the households involved.

The Internet is not virtual in Trinidad: an ethnographic study
Don Slater, Department of Sociology Goldsmiths College University of London, d.slater@gold.ac.uk

Based on fieldwork covering the full range of Internet use in Trinidad and its diaspora, this paper argues that ‘virtuality’ and ‘virtual society’ are inappropriate terms through which to understand this population’s extensive and enthusiastic adoption of new media. Rather than producing an effect of disembedding Trinidadians from place and locality, or producing socially salient separations between ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ settings, Internet media have been tightly integrated within ongoing Trinidadian culture and projects. The new media are seen largely as means for performing, extending and asserting core elements of Trinidadian identity rather than generating new identities grounded in specific qualities of new media technologies. At the same time, it is clear that new communicative possibilities have become crucial to realizing or repositioning a wide range of social relations from family to religion and business.

They came, they surfed, they went back to the beach: Conceptualising use and non-use of the Internet
Tiziana Terranova (UEL), Graham Thomas (UEL) and Sally Wyatt (University of Amsterdam)

In many policy and academic discussions about the future of the Internet, it is assumed that once people have been exposed to its wonders, they will embrace it wholeheartedly. Thus, data about the growth of numbers of users are extrapolated to demonstrate even greater future growth. Lack of access is associated with various forms of social exclusion; the possibility of voluntary rejection is rarely acknowledged. Even more rare is the recognition of the possibility that people might make an informed choice not to continue to use the Internet. Access itself is viewed from a flat, uni-dimensional perspective: one either has access or not. Deconstructing use according to, inter alia, means of access (via PC, mobile phone/PDA, or TV), types of services (e-mail, Web, Usenet, etc.) and frequency of use all adds complexity to the notion of ‘Internet user’. This chapter will explore the implications of non-use as well as variability in use of the Internet for public policy and technology studies. 

In discussions of public acceptance of new technology, public resistance (often assumed to be based on ignorance and fear), barriers to use and how to overcome them, it is usually assumed that access to technology is necessarily desirable, and the question thus becomes one of how to increase access. This reflects a belief in technological progress and raises questions (again) about technological determinism. The invisibility of non-users and the assumed homogeneity of users both reflect a continued commitment to the promises of new technology. Such beliefs and assumptions may limit the effectiveness of public policy measures which aim to increase access and participation. 

Users, and the relationship between producers and users are important themes in sociological, economic, historical, cultural and feminist studies of technology. Traditionally, users have been considered as important actors in the diffusion and acceptance of new technologies, but most treatments of users have tended to view them as passive recipients. Within innovation studies literature, users are often viewed as important sources of information for the development of successful new products. More sociologically informed work has emphasised that users not only matter once technology is in use, but that they also play an important role in the design of technologies. Rather than being seen as passive, users are viewed as agents of technological change. Concepts such as ‘the consumption junction’ (Schwartz Cowan 1987), ‘relevant social groups’ (Bijker and Pinch 1987) and ‘domestication of technology’ (Lie and Sørenson 1996) are important in the social studies of science and technology. Other work explores how technology designers attempt to configure users (Woolgar 1991). All of this research reflects a reconceptualisation of the role of the user as a more active participant in shaping and negotiating meanings of technology. The blurring and shifting of boundaries between producers and users is particularly acute in the case of the Internet (Thomas and Wyatt forthcoming).

Virtual Connections: The Case of Women on the Net
Gillian Youngs, Centre for Mass Communication Research, University of Leicester, gy4@le.ac.uk

This paper draws on my participation in a UNESCO/Society for International Development project, Women on the Net, which has brought together over three years activists, academics and practitioners from Europe, the US, Canada, Africa, Latin America and Asia, to work on the political and cultural potential of the Net for women. I outline the nature of the project and its combined methodologies - face to face meetings, listserve discussions, workshops - to explore the meanings behind virtual connections in contemporary networking.

The paper highlights the linkages which can usefully be drawn between virtual and other more familiar concrete social settings and the dynamics which operate across them. It also discusses the complex question of boundaries in group communication across multiple cultural and geographical contexts and the kinds of discoveries and problematics which can occur. It contests the idea of virtual space as a separate and discrete social space and argues instead for an integrated analytical stance which recognizes the multiple locations which different forms of communication bring to bear. The paper also discusses the outputs of the project - a book, handbook, guide, websites - and their different contributions as well as feedback on them.

The paper examines the case study approach as a means of probing the nature of virtual connections from a theoretical perspective. In so doing, it explores different aspects of the theory/practice relationship in research on cyberspace and the challenges confronting researchers in pursuing what is actually happening in this sphere as well as its theoretical and social implications.