A Look At Mass and Computer Mediated Technologies: Understanding the Roles of Television and Computers in the Home

Abstract The multi-channel, multi-option television and the personal computer are two media technologies that have dramatically altered the home media environment. New media technologies have the capacity to create new media use patterns and blur the lines between entertainment and information. This study examines the social role of new media technologies in the home relative to: (1) social facilitation; (2) rule making (3) shifting/expanding media use; and, (4) attitudes toward media technologies.