Web Use and Net Nerds: A Neofunctionalist Analysis of the Impact of Information Technology in the Home

This article investigates the impact of use of the Worldwide Web on patterns of sociability. Its sets out a neofunctionalist model of socio-technological innovation that is designed to explore prospectively the impact of innovations in areas such as information and communications technology, on the full range of sociable and nonsociable activities. It uses evidence from a unique data set (a nationally representative time diary panel study, collected in the U.K. for the period 1999-2001) to explore this model. It concludes that Internet use, contrary to "time-displacement" expectations, is not negatively associated with sociability.