On Good Neighbors and Distant Friends in the Online Era

Abstract

Internet use continues to increase, and the range of online applications for maintaining social relationships is rapidly evolving. Changes in the quality, quantity, and distance of contacts in social circles might affect mobility. On the basis of literature and data derived from the Netherlands Mobility Panel (MPN), the world of social circles (online and offline) and the activities of initiating and maintaining friendships are examined. MPN data on Internet use for 2,775 respondents and statements scored by them on a 5-point Likert scale are analyzed, and reported changes in the quantity, quality, and distance of contacts in social circles due to the Internet are examined. A key finding is that engaging in social activities online can lead to both an increase and a decrease in the desire to meet with social contacts face-to-face, as well as a change in how social circles are maintained. Respondents report an increase in the number of social contacts, the distance between contacts in the social circle, and the distances traveled to meet with their contacts. They also report a decrease in engagement in certain social activities and changes in the ways in which they engage in them. Maintaining social contacts online can simultaneously stimulate, redistribute, substitute for, enrich, and supplement travel, all depending on the situation and the activity at hand. The presence of multiple effects for specific types of activities indicates the importance of including the particularities of quality, quantity, and distance in future studies of the effects of online social activities on mobility.