Ulises Ali Mejias: NETWORKED PROXIMITY: ICTS AND THE MEDIATION OF NEARNESS, 2007, PhD thesis, Creative Commons

(z úvodu)
..The large-scale adoption of information and communication technologies is producing new architectures of networked participation in which the social subject becomes a decentralized node, unbound by location or physical space. Nearness (in terms of social proximity) acquires a new significance, since the distance between two nodes—regardless of their physical location—is practically zero, while the distance between a node and something outside the network is practically infinite. Thus, physical proximity is replaced by informational availability as the basis for experiencing social nearness, resulting in a form of networked proximity characterized simultaneously by a sense of renewed connectedness to the local (hyperlocality), and a sense of distancelessness that makes any point in the network readily accessible.

[..]

(zo záveru)
..the network is closer to looking and acting like a mass, not a public. Masses are not sites of rich social interaction. Masses foster an alienated form of individualism, making it difficult for people to come together meaningfully. There is endless talk in masses, but little action. Masses cannot be mobilized but in the most trivial, short-lived, inconsequential ways. ‘Participation’ in the mass absorbs the time, resources, and knowledge of individuals and diverts them from authentic actions against the established authority and its violence. Because of its large numbers, a mass may give the appearance of a robust assemblage, but a closer look reveals that people feel irreparably alone in a mass.