The focus of this book is on the impact of cyberspace on society. This edited collection of essays is divided into three parts. Part one is concerned with 'telecommunications and social relations' and deals with the use of the Internet for social support and interaction. Part two is concerned with 'virtual worlds and social theory' and is focused on such issues as addiction to web surfing and the impact of cyberspace on real space. The third part is made up essays on the impact of the Internet on politics.
Part one is made up of four essays.
In the first of these, Patricia J. Peterson examines what she calls a case study of social control on the Internet. She argues that this highly regulated virtual space is attractive to some because of the perceived disorder of reality. The first part of the book concludes with a piece by Martha E. Gimenez that describes her sometimes disheartening experiences in setting up an initially unregulated mailbase service for sometimes disruptive and badly behaved sociologists. The second part of the book opens with an essay by Myron Orleans on the phenomenon of 'cyber addiction', or dependency on computers and the virtual world, in which he takes issue with the idea that such a phenomenon actually exists. Steven R. Cornish and Craig B. Nerenberg examine sex and the Internet in their piece, looking specifically on the use of pornography and the issues surrounding social and political regulation of 'deviant' behaviour and how the target for regulators has of necessity been the providers of pornography rather than the consumers.