Lines Between Real and Virtual Worlds Blurring
A large portion (43%) of internet users in the United States who are members of online communities "feel as strongly" about their virtual communities as they do about their real world communities, according to the University of Southern California, Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future's sixth annual Digital Future study.
Other findings:
* 20.3% of online community members perform actions offline at least once a year that are related to their online community.
* Average respondents have met 1.6 of their "web acquaintances" in person, 40% are using the web to stay connected with people, and 37.7% say the internet is enabling them to communicate more with friends and family.
* 64.9% of online community members who participate in social causes online say they are involved in causes that were new to them when they started participating in social networks, while 43.7 % of online community members say they engage more in social activism since they started participating in online communities.
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