Professor Barry Wellman of the University of Toronto in Canada has invented a term to describe the way many North Americans interact(互动)these days。The 1 is“networked individualism”．This concept is not 2 to understand because the words seem to have opposite meanings．How can we be individuals and be networked 3 ？You need other people for 4 ．
Here is 5 Professor Wellman means． 6 the invention of the Internet and e－mail, our social networks included 7 interactions with relatives, neighbors andcolleagues at work．some of the 8 was by phone, but it was still voice to voice, person to person, in 9 time．
A recent 10 by the Pew internet and American Life Project 11 that for a lot of people, electronic interaction through the computer has 12 the person－to－person interaction．However, a lot of people interviewed for the Pew’s study 13 that’s a good thing．Why？
In the past, many people were 14 that the Internet isolated(隔离，孤立)us and caused us to 15 too much time in the imaginary world of the computer．But the Pew’s study discovered that the 16 is true．The Internet 17 us with more real people than expected－ 18 people who can give advice on careers, medical problems, raising children, and choosing a school or college．About 60 million Americans told Pew that the Internet 19 an important role in helping them make major life decisions．
Thanks to the computer,“networked individuals”are able to be 20 and together with other people－at the same time！
