The Local Impact of the Global Internet: The Effect of New Technology and Global Communication on Individuals and Communities in Britain

Abstract

Worldwide diffusion and use of the Internet is changing how we communicate, but also reconfiguring patterns of local and global communication – shaping what we know, and whom we know. Rather than undermining social networks and local communities in the ways feared by many critics of new media, use of the Internet is empowering ‘networked individuals’ and their communities – local and global. This general theme is based on a synthesis of empirical research, complemented by an analysis of new data on the use of the Internet by people living in Britain. Longer-term outcomes will depend on how networked individuals and institutions will use the Internet in a rapidly evolving regulatory context that could undermine the local vitality of digital Britain.

Keywords: Internet, gobalization, community, Britain