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Computer networks are social networks. Social affordances of computer‐supported social networks – broader bandwidth, wireless portability, globalized connectivity, personalization – are fostering the movement from door‐to‐door and place‐to‐place communities to person‐to‐person and role‐to‐role communities. People connect in social networks rather than in communal groups. In‐person and computer‐mediated communication are integrated in communities characterized by personalized networking. Les réseaux informatiques sont des réseaux sociaux. Les possibilités sociales qu’offrent les réseaux sociaux informatisés – bande passante plus large, portabilité sans fil, connectivité mondiale, personnalisation – sont en train de favoriser le passage de communautés de porte‐à‐porte et de lieu‐à‐lieu vers des communautés d’individu‐à‐individu et de rôle‐à‐rôle. Ainsi, les gens se lient davantage dans des réseaux sociaux que dans des collectivités. Les communications directes et via l’informatique sont intégrées dans des communautés caractérisées par un maillage personnalisé.

was an assistant professor at Northwestern University and before that a postdoctoral fellow at the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Witte's areas of interest include the sociology of the Internet, economy and society, and research methods. Witte was the principal investigator for the National Geographic Society's Web-based survey, Survey2000, and is principal investigator for the National Science Foundation-funded follow-up study, Survey2001.

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What is the Internet doing to local community? Analysts have debated about whether the Internet is weakening community by leading people away from meaningful in‐person contact; transforming community by creating new forms of community online; or enhancing community by adding a new means of connecting with existing relationships. They have been especially concerned that the globe‐spanning capabilities of the Internet can limit local involvements. Survey and ethnographic data from a “wired suburb” near Toronto show that high‐speed, always‐on access to the Internet, coupled with a local online discussion group, transforms and enhances neighboring. The Internet especially supports increased contact with weaker ties. In comparison to nonwired residents of the same suburb, more neighbors are known and chatted with, and they are more geographically dispersed around the suburb. Not only did the Internet support neighboring, it also facilitated discussion and mobilization around local issues.