Using data collected among 742 respondents, this article aims at gaining greater insight into (i) the interaction between face-to-face (F2F) and electronic contacts, (ii) the influence of information content and relational distance on the communication mode/ service choice and (iii) the influence of relational and geographical distance, in addition to other factors, on the frequency of F2F and electronic contacts with relatives and friends. The results show that the frequency of F2F contacts is positively correlated with that for electronic communication, pointing at a complementarity effect.With respect to information content and relational distance, we find, on the basis of descriptive analyses, that synchronous modes/services (F2F and telephone conversations) are used more for urgent matters and that asynchronous modes (in particular email) become more influential as the relational distance increases. Finally, ordered probit analyses confirm that the frequency of both F2F and electronic communication declines when the physical and relational distance to social network members increases.

Axhausen KW , Frei A. ( 2007) Contacts in a shrunken world. Arbeitsbericht Verkers- und Raumplanung, 440, IVT, ETH Zürich, Zürich.
Google Scholar
Axhausen KW , Frei A. , and Ohnmacht T. ( 2006) Networks, biographies and travel: First empirical and methodological results. Paper prepared for 11th International Conference on Travel Behaviour Research (IATBR), Kyoto, Japan, August 2006.
Google Scholar
Bachi R. ( 1963) Standard distance measures and related methods for spatial analysis. Papers of the Regional Science Association 26: 19-33.
Google Scholar
Boase J. , Hoorigan JB , Wellman B. , and Rainie L. ( 2006) The Strength of Internet Ties: The Internet and Email Aid Users in Maintaining their Social Networks and Provide Pathways to Help
Google Scholar
When People Face Big Decisions. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project.(eds) Boden D , Molotoch HL (1994) The compulsion of proximity. In: Friedland R , Boden D (eds) Nowhere Space, Time and Modernity. London: University of California Press, 257-286.
Google Scholar
Buliung RN , Kanaroglou PS ( 2006) Urban form and household activity-travel behavior . Growth and Change 37: 172-99.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Carrasco JA , Miller EJ , and Wellman B. ( 2006) Exploring the propensity to perform social activities: A social networks approach. 85th Annual Transportation Research Board Meeting, Washington, DC, January 2006.
Google Scholar
Carrasco JA , Miller EJ , and Wellman B. ( 2006) Spatial and social networks: The case of travel for social activities. Paper prepared for 11th International Conference on Travel Behaviour Research (IATBR), Kyoto , Japan, August 2006.
Google Scholar
Dijst M. (2009) ICT and social networks: Towards a situational perspective on the interaction between corporeal and connected presence. In: Kitamura R , Yoshii T and Yamamoto T (eds) The Expanding Sphere of Travel Behaviour Research. New York: Emerald Publishing, 45-76.
Google Scholar
Dijst M. , Farag S. , and Schwanen T. ( 2008) A comparative study of attitude theory and other theoretical models for understanding travel behaviour. Environment and Planning A 40: 831-847.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Gershuny J. ( 2002) Mass media, leisure and home IT: A panel time-diary approach . IT & Society 1(1): 53-66.
Google Scholar
Gerstel N. , Gallagher SK ( 2001) Men’s caregiving: Gender and the contingent character of care. Gender & Society 15(2): 197-217.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Greene WH ( 2002) LIMDEP Version 8.0 (Econometric Modeling Guide) . New York: Econometric Software, Inc.
Google Scholar
Katz JE , Rice RE ( 2002) Syntopia: Access, civic involvement and social interaction on the net. In: Wellman B , Haythornthwaite C (eds) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden: Blackwell, 114-138.
Google Scholar
Kestnbaum M. , Robinson JP , Neustadl A. and Alvarez A. ( 2002) Information technology and social time displacement . IT & Society 1(1): 21-37.
Google Scholar
Kraut R. , Patterson M. , Lundmark V. , Kiesler S. , Mukopadhyay T. , and Scherlis W. ( 1998) Internet paradox: a social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist 53: 1017-1032.
Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI
Kraut R. , Kiesler S. , Boneva B. , Cummings J. , Helgeson V. , and Crawford A. ( 2002) Internet paradox revisited. Journal of Social Issues 58: 49-74.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Larsen J. , Axhausen KW , and Urry J. ( 2006) Geographies of social networks: Meetings, travel and communication amongst youngish people. Mobilities 1(2): 261-283.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Licoppe C. ( 2004) ‘Connected’ presence: The emergence of a new repertoire for managing social relationships in a changing communication technoscape . Environment and Planning D 22: 135-156.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Licoppe C. , Smoreda Z. ( 2005) Are social networks technologically embedded? How networks are changing today with changes in communication technology. Social Networks 27: 317-335.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Ling R. ( 2004) The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone’s Impact on Society. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufman.
Google Scholar
Marsden PV ( 2005) Recent developments in network measurement. In: P Carrington , Scott J , and Wasserman S (eds) Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis. New York : Cambridge University Press, 8-30.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, Japan (2004) Information and communications in Japan: White paper. Tokyo.
Google Scholar
Miyata K. , Boase J. , Wellman B. , and Ikeda K. ( 2005) The mobile-izing Japanese: Connecting to the internet by PC and web phone in Yamanashi. In: Ito M , Okabe D , and Matsuda M (eds) Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life. Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 143-164.
Google Scholar
Mok D. , Wellman B. , and Basu R. ( 2007) Did distance matter before the internet? Interpersonal contact and support in the 1970s. Social Networks 29: 430-461.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Mokhtarian PL ( 1990) A typology of relationships between telecommunications and transportation. Transportation Research A 24(3): 231-242.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Mokhtarian PL , Meenakshisundaram R. ( 1999) Beyond tele-substitution: Disaggregate longitudinal structural equations modeling of communication impacts. Transportation Research C 7: 33-52.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Nie NH , Hillygus DS ( 2002) Where does internet time come from? A reconnaissance . IT & Society 1(2): 1-20.
Google Scholar
Nie NH , Hillygus DS , and Erbring L. ( 2002) Internet use, interpersonal relations and sociability . In: Wellman B , Haythornthwaite C (eds) The Internet in Everyday Life. Malden: Blackwell, 215-243.
Google Scholar
Oksman V. , Rautiainen P. ( 2003) Extension of the hand: Children’s and teenagers’ relationship with the mobile phone in Finland. In: Fortunati L , Katz JE , and Riccini R (eds) Mediating the Human Body: Technology, Communication, and Fashion. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 103-112.
Google Scholar
Puro J. ( 2002) Finland: A mobile culture. In: Katz JE , Aakhus M (eds) Perpetual Contact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19-29.
Google Scholar
Putnam DR ( 2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community . New York: Simon & Schuster .
Google Scholar | Crossref
Rivière CA , Licoppe C. ( 2004) From voice to text: Continuity and change in the use of mobile phones in France and Japan. In: Kim SD (ed.) Mobile Communication and Social Change. Seoul, Korea: 2004 International Conference on Mobile Communication, 488-503.
Google Scholar
Rössler P. , Höflich JR ( 2005) More than a telephone: Mobile phone and the usage of the short message service (SMS) by German adolescents. In: Kim SD (ed.) When Mobile Came: The Cultural and Social Impact of Mobile Communication. Seoul, Korea: Communication Books, 104-134.
Google Scholar
Salomon I. ( 1986) Telecommunications and travel relationships: A review . Transportation Research A 20: 223-238.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Sung D-K. ( 2005) Mobile internet and changing communication means: A Korean case. In: Kim SD (ed.) When Mobile Came: The Cultural and Social Impact of Mobile Communication . Seoul, Korea: Communication Books, 288-298.
Google Scholar
Täube VG ( 2004) Connected and disconnected? On the impact of internet use on social connected-ness. Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory 10: 227-241.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Tillema T. , Dijst M. , and Schwanen T. ( 2009) Communicating something confidential while travelling by train: The use of a telephone conversation versus silent modes. Transportation 36(5): 541-564.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Urry J. ( 2007) Connecting and imagining. In: Urry J (ed.) Mobilities. Cambridge: Polity Press, 157-182.
Google Scholar
Wang D. , Law FYT ( 2007) Impacts of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on time use and travel behaviour: A structural equations analysis. Transportation 34: 513-527.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Access Options

My Account

Welcome
You do not have access to this content.



Chinese Institutions / 中国用户

Click the button below for the full-text content

请点击以下获取该全文

Institutional Access

does not have access to this content.

Purchase Content

24 hours online access to download content

Research off-campus without worrying about access issues. Find out about Lean Library here

Your Access Options


Purchase

NMS-article-ppv for $37.50
Single Issue 24 hour E-access for $489.33

Cookies Notification

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Find out more.
Top