PERSONAL NETWORK MAINTENANCE, FACE TO FACE INTERACTION, AND DISTANCE: STUDYING THE ROLE OF ICT AVAILABILITY AND USE

摘要

Taking as a departing point the general agreement in the literature about thecomplementary role of ICT in social activity-travel, the paper focuses on studying inbetter detail the joint interplay between different media (face-to-face, telephone,Internet-based) in personal network maintenance, with a special focus on the relevanceof the distance and socioeconomic contexts.Using an explicit social structure approach, the paper conceives social networks aspersonal communication systems that individuals use to stay socially connected. Usingrecently data gathered in Concepción, Chile, the study focuses on two neighborhoodsdistinctive by their different income levels, studying the interplay between ICTavailability and use, the frequency of face to face interaction, and the role of distance.Quantitative methods are used to study the specific contexts where ICT complementsface to face interaction, identifying the role of distance, and key characteristics of egos,alters and the personal networks where they are embedded.The results suggest that, after controlling by demographics, telephone and Internet aredifferent affordances which work in specialized ways, depending on the ego-alterrelationship, in aspects such as roles, distance, length of the relationship, and age andsex homophily. As a consequence, the complementary effect of ICT in social activitiesis mediated by the social context where these interactions occur, remarking therelevance of the particularities of the spatial, socioeconomic and social structure wheresocial relations are embedded.