Download the study through the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Listen to the podcast on future tense.

Excerpt:

Internet use does not pull people away from public places. Rather, it is associated with engagement in places such as parks, cafes, and restaurants, the kinds of locales where research shows that people are likely to encounter a wider array of people and diverse points of view. Indeed, internet access has become a common component of people’s experiences within many public spaces. For instance, of those Americans who have been in a library within the past month, 38% logged on to the internet while they were there, 18% have done so in a café or coffee shop.

[...]

Is internet use associated with “cocooning,” or a withdrawal from public and semipublic spaces?

Public spaces, such as parks, libraries, and community centers, as well as “third places” highlighted by analyst Ray Oldenburg, such as cafés and restaurants, are an important source of exposure to diverse ideas, issues, and opinions – as well as meeting places for interacting with social ties. Contrary to concerns that internet use leads to withdrawal from public spaces, we generally found that interest use is associated with engagement in such places.

Compared to those who do not use the internet, internet users are 42% more likely to visit a public park or plaza and 45% more likely to visit a coffee shop or café.
Bloggers are 61% more likely to visit a public park than internet users who do not maintain a blog, or about 2.3 times more likely than non‐internet users.

The findings also show that internet access has become a common component of people’s experiences within many public spaces.

Why blogging this? I’ve argued that neo-nomads anchor momentarily to spaces with new technologies. In part of what makes home is the ties with peers.