Egocentric Networks

The Changing Structure of Community

Although egocentric communities have been around since humankind, the emphasis on a network view of community is not a fad but corresponds with real changes in contemporary society. The earliest communities were door-to-door communities: people visited one another's homes by walking or dropping by, often unexpectedly. Once industrial technologies such as cars, trains, expressways, planes, and telephones entered the mainstream, communication and travel expanded, giving rise to communities based on place-to-place connectivity. People could now travel between far-off places by getting on a plane (or bullet train) without so much as caring about the undulating hills, valleys, and people in between. They could also call distant friends directly. While these were helpful inventions, their connectivity was restricted to place-to-place contact. Planes and expressways did not allow much contact between destinations, and the person who picked up a landline phone may not have been the intended recipient, but any household or workgroup member.

Communities have entered a new phase. Mobile phones and the Internet aid individuals to connect one another person-to-person. Each individual carries connections to his/her personal community in a pocket or purse. This phenomenon is networked individualism, where community is not between groups or households, but between individuals.

Modern individuals have become independent managers of their own personal communities. Although some scholars continue to analyze community in terms of spatially bounded units, others focus on community as interpenetrating combinations of online and off-line worlds, managed by autonomous individuals at their respective centers. The fact that people tend to organize large parts of their social worlds in terms of lists of kin, friends, and acquaintances on mobile phones, e-mail, and social networking sites implies the importance of analyzing contemporary communities as somewhat segmented personal networks. The Internet has not turned users into recluses but has enabled people to continue and enhance their in-person relations with Internet and mobile phone contact. In everyday life, conversations initiated online often continue off-line, and off-line relations often lead to further conversations [Page 237]online. The growth of the Internet and its embeddedness in everyday life has not resulted in the loss of community. Rather, it has helped forge, develop, and sustain a comprehensive set of strong and weak ties in personal communities and networks.

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