Virtual Communities and Social Distance
Reading the previous post on mobile phones and their effects on society and culture led me to think about the related issue of social distance.
In 1926 an American sociologist named Emory Bogardus developed his valuable social distance scale, still commonly used within the social sciences today.
The scale was based on a series of seven statements that subjects were asked to consider for different racial, social and national groups. In 1927 people where asked how they would feel to have a member of group X :
a) in close kinship marriage
b) in my club as a personal chum
c) in my street as a neighbour
d) as a fellow employmee in my occupation
e) as a fellow citizen in my country
f) as a visitor only in my country
g) I would exclude all members of X my country
Bogardus's original series of statements has, of coures, been updated, but the quaint terms in the original highlight the key milestones in our definition of social distance: marriage, friendship, neighbours, workmates, citizenship and visitors to one's country (with different notions of how long to stay). Are these barometers still relevant in our 'network age'?
