Reach out and email someone...
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on America, people reached out to each other in an untraditional way -- through e-mail. A survey by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, shows 57.1 percent of Internet users -- more than 100 million Americans -- sent or received "I Care Mail" for emotional support in the wake of the tragedy. "Sept. 11 was the first major national crisis since the beginning of the Internet and e-mail," said Jeffrey Cole, director of the UCLA Centre for Communication Policy and founder of the UCLA Internet Project. "In the aftermath of the attacks, e-mail had a profound influence on how Americans communicate. Tens of millions of Americans shared an emotional connection through e-mail after the attacks -- communication that in almost all instances would not have occurred through telephone or letters." Internet users established new connections and reconnected with old relationships, Cole said. "Equally important, people around the world used e-mail and the Internet to reach out to Americans to demonstrate support, compassion and sympathy," he said. When it came to getting the news, however, television -- not the Internet -- was the main source, for 56.3 percent of Americans.
Copyright 2002 by United Press International.
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