[Air-l] Internet use by families

[Denise N. Rall]

Dear AIR-ers -

Ok, jumping in here a bit, BUT, there's a primary 
need to look at how the family system is impacted by
the network effect . . . this simple principle will
filter out, I suspect users who stay on the 'net vs.
those who don't.  Often there would be no reason to
stay online if 'significant' others were not online,
the old MCI 'Family & Friends' idea - few drop off's
or a few add on's for online interaction might
determine the staying power of the network in place. 8
seems a bit low, take the possible number of people
that would then be online each day/ seven days a week,
that's slightly less than one interaction online per
day or less than 10 per week.

QUESTION: I don't know, that seems a critical point -
has anyone looked into the optimal amount of
emails/day for users to stay linked into a viable
network? My guess is 10-15 messages per day per
network is about what I seem to be able to handle -
and still feel vitally attached but not overwhelmed .
. . Although more active networks (staff emails, AIR)
allow me to not feel neglected and therefore tolerate
low activity networks (such as the student Forestry
list here at SCU, 0-1 posts per week).

Denise



=====
"Stupidity is not just a lack of content; it's also a process" 
Denise N. Rall, Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator &
PhD student, School of Education, Southern Cross University,
PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW, 2480 Australia
Phone +61-2-6624-8627 Fax +61-2-6624-8637
Office (Tuesdays) (02) 6620 3577 Mob 0438 233 344
http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/edu/research/deniserall/index.html

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