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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rainie, Harrison. Networked : the new social operating system / Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-01719-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Social networks. 2. Online social networks. 3. Interpersonal relations. 4. Internet – Social aspects. I. Wellman, Barry. II. Title. HM741.R35 2012 006.7 ′ 54 — dc23 2011038146

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Paulette and Bev

Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

I The Triple Revolution 1

1 The New Social Operating System of Networked Individualism 3

2 The Social Network Revolution 21

3 The Internet Revolution 59

4 The Mobile Revolution 81

Interlude: A Day in a Connected Life 109

II How Networked Individualism Works 115

5 Networked Relationships 117

6 Networked Families 147

7 Networked Work 171

8 Networked Creators 197

9 Networked Information 223

Interlude: The Conversation Never Ends 245

III How to Operate in a Networked World, Now and in the Future 253

10 Thriving as a Networked Individual 255

11 The Future of Networked Individualism 275

Notes 303

Index 351

Preface

While writing our book, we had fun with the title. Should we call it “ The Triple Revolution ” of the turn to social networks, the personalized internet, and always-available mobile connectivity? Too complicated, we decided, although that became the title of part I, with a chapter devoted to each of the three revolutions.

Should we call our book “ Networked Individualism ” ? This seemingly contradictory term would confuse browsers — better to explain it inside — and would downplay our interest in the internet and mobile connectivity. And so part II spends a lot of time looking at how the Triple Revolution plays out in relationships, families, work, creativity, and information.

Should we call our book “ The Social Network ” ? Definitely not, for that term resonates too much with Facebook these days — in fact it ’ s the title of the 2010 Oscar-winning movie about the start of Facebook — and we spend a lot of time in this book showing how social networks are much more than Facebook.

So we ’ ve called the book Networked: The New Social Operating System , emphasizing how networks among people have profoundly transformed how we connect, in person and electronically.

Along the way, we made a decision: Although we take the internet and mobile revolutions very seriously, this is not a book about the wonders of the internet and smartphones. Despite all the attention paid to new gadgets, technology does not determine human behavior; humans deter- mine how technologies are used. Moreover, we would be instantly out of date if we took gadgets as our focal point. We are writing this in September 2011, but the book won ’ t be published until 2012, and we are sure that many things will have changed by then and soon thereafter. At the same time, we are confident that one thing holds true: The internet and mobile phones have facilitated the reshaping of people ’ s social networks, enabling them to be larger and more diverse. And they have reconfigured the way

x Preface

people use their networks to learn, solve problems, make decisions, and provide support to each other.

Who knows? By the time you read this, Facebook or tablet computers might have overtaken laptops and desktops, elevating mobile “ apps ” to digital supremacy over the web. But we have tried to get right the basic social processes associated with the Triple Revolution. Although we focus on the societies we know best, the United States and Canada — “ North America ” — the discussion should be more widely useful.

Finally, we note that all revolutions are lumpy. For example, despite all of our revolutionary talk, this book is still a traditional book — whether on paper or as ebook. We dearly hope that the next edition will have hyper- links to all of the articles we cite and the movies we discuss. But there is still a place for a good read. We ’ ve tried to avoid jargon and write for intel- ligent general readers but still keep the specialists happy. We think we ’ ve succeeded, and we hope you like it even more than we ’ ve loved writing it. Please send us comments on our blog, http://www.networkedindividuals .com. Thanks.

Acknowledgments

It is fitting that this book about networks comes from networked teams and via digital interactions. Although coauthors Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman met in person a few times, their basic interactions regarding the book were by email — with copious link insertions and attachments exchanging drafts — and by mobile phone.

In addition, Rainie and Wellman were at the centers of research net- works: Rainie directing the Pew Research Center ’ s Internet & American Life Project and Wellman directing NetLab at the University of Toronto.

In the Pew Internet world and the larger Pew Research Center, it is impossible to say where Lee Rainie ’ s offerings begin and other staffers ’ contributions end. It is a fellowship of daily learning, creation, and kinship with Susannah Fox, Amanda Lenhart, Kristen Purcell, Aaron Smith, John Horrigan, Cornelia Carter, Kathryn Zickuhr, Deborah Fallows, Paul Taylor, Scott Keeter, and Andrew Kohut. For this book, no one ’ s insights and careful editing skills were as important as those of Mary Madden Nesper, who was generous with her time and graceful in her interventions. Along the way, a cadre of Pew Internet researchers made important contributions: Jessica Vitak, Sydney Jones, Amy Tracy Wells, Eliza Jacobs, Lauren Scissors, Xingpu Yuan, Terrell Frazer, Margaret Griffith, and Niki Woodard.

In the wider world of Pew, the financial and substantive support pro- vided by the board of the Pew Charitable Trusts and board of the Pew Research Center were critical. The personal interest and commitment to technology-focused research of Rebecca Rimel, Donald Kimelman, Tim Durkin, and Elizabeth Gross were essential to the work of the Pew Internet project and the contributions its work has made to this book.

Rainie has also learned at the knee of advisers and teachers whose fin- gerprints are all over this material: Janna Anderson, Keith Hampton, Michael Nelson, Lincoln Caplan, Adam Clayton Powell III, Esther Dyson,