Social Relationships in the Network Society

"This project aims to increase our understanding of social interaction in a network society with a particular focus on relationships between family members and close friends.... The project will examine how digital technology hinders or supports relationships with family and close friends by combining Swedish survey data and interviews with Swedish users/non-users of digital technology. Three areas are in focus: 1) the relationship between online/offline in social interaction 2) different opportunities and responsibilities for men and women in the maintenance of family ties with the help of digital technology 3) the constraints and opportunities for social relationships and interaction that digital technology allows.... The project aims to understand how individuals of different ages maintain close social ties over the Internet and other digital technologies and how users/non-users perceive the relationship between digital technology and interaction with significant others. The project strives for a theoretical and empirical platform for the analysis of the impact of technology and new forms of interaction in the context of digital media." (https://www.im.uu.se/forskning/projekt/social-relationships-in-the-network-society/)