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The Internet, Social Networks And Loneliness, Jean-François Coget, Yutaka Yamauchi, Michael Suman

Management, HR and Information Systems

As the Internet has rapidly become a mainstream medium, some studies have found that Internet use is associated with reduced social networks and increased loneliness, whereas other research has suggested virtually the opposite. Still other studies have found no associations at all between Internet use, social networks and level of loneliness. Some authors who have found that the Internet has a negative impact on social relationships and psychological well-being have hypothesized that Internet use encourages the creation of online relationships, which in turn replace face-to-face contacts (displacement). Since this results in an overall loss of depth that is more important …