Computer networks as social networks: Collaborative work, telework, and virtual community

Computer-supported social networks (CSSNs) are the cornerstone of global connectivity, virtual communities, and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). Beginning with the U.S. Defense Department's ARPANET, scientific researchers began a quest for connecting social and workplace networks. Since then, the birth of personal computers and Intranets has grown rapidly, while the costs associated with access have decreased. Because the Web hosts communities of previously disconnected individuals searching for information, companionship, and social support, computer networks are expanding at an astonishing rate. Stemming from this economic and social phenomenon, the authors investigate online computermediated communication (CMC) and its relationship to groupware, e-mail, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), and listservs. CSSNs are examined in terms of social-network theory-where the size, structure, and composition of virtual communities and workgroups are applied to the types of communication that affect telework, domestic work, and the larger networked organization.