Technology developement & Community: the Telephone

Another way to look at how social interactions may have changed with IT is to examine how they changed under an earlier technology, the telephone. Some might argue that the telephone helped people do what they were already doing—talking—but made it easier. Similar charges have been leveled against the Internet, that it merely speeds up and simplifies communication. Even social critics of the Victorian era, however, observed that the telephone was unique. It gave “neighborship without propinquity” observed a contemporary in 1891. (Putnam) IT further removes the necessity of locality to form communities, and provides greater benefits to boot. The comparison is not direct, however, since some features of digital technology span outside the speed and simplicity effects. The full effects are well outside the scope of this paper, but include one-to-many publication for everyone, and the configuration of communication networks for the benefit of those using them.

Allan Friedman
January, 2002