New ICTs and social interaction: Modelling communication frequency and communication mode choice

Abstract

New information and communication technologies (ICTs) have provided new ways of communicating and maintaining social networks. However, relatively little is known on the effect of ICT-use on social interaction. Therefore, this article aims to explore the factors influencing individuals’ communication frequency and choice of communication mode. The analyses are based on social interaction diary data gathered in 2008 in the Eindhoven region in the Netherlands among 747 respondents. Using these data two models are estimated analysing the number of social interactions in two days and the choice of a communication mode used for the social interaction. Many significant effects of personal and household characteristics were found. In addition, the results for communication mode choice show the importance of including characteristics of the contacted person(s) to explain communication mode choice. The findings allow us to reconstruct the generation of social activities and the relationship between face-to-face and ICT-mediated communication.