[I don't have access to the full paper right now.]
Nie, N. H., Hillygus, D. S. and Erbring, L. (2008) "Internet Use, Interpersonal Relations, and Sociability: A Time Diary Study" in The Internet in Everyday Life (eds B. Wellman and C. Haythornthwaite), Blackwell Publishers
ABSTRACT:
Using exciting new time diary data, we explore the complex ways in which the Internet affects interpersonal communication and sociability. Rather than dwelling on the increasingly stale debate about whether the Internet is good or bad for sociability, we analyze when and where Internet use impacts face-to-face interactions. Internet use at home has a strong negative impact on time spent with friends and family, while Internet use at work is strongly related to decreased time with colleagues (but has little effect on social time with friends and family). Similarly, Internet use during the weekends is more strongly related to decreased time spent with friends and family than Internet use during weekdays. Our findings offer support for a "displacement" or "hydraulic" theory of Internet use -- time online is largely an asocial activity that competes with, rather than complements, face-to-face social time -- but it is the location and timing of Internet use that determines which interpersonal relationships are affected.