How do new media technologies affect this dynamic? Putnam argues that this is still an unanswered question. It seems clear that the context of technology
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usage would be important in clarifying this issue. Social network theorists, for example, have discovered that ‘social’ uses of information systems can positively impact community formation and sustenance, through the sharing of informa- tion resources and creation of common spaces for socializing and communica- tion (Wellman and Gulia, 1999).