How are interpersonal relationships being transformed in the social networks era?

An ever-growing proportion of the global population are using social networks. In the West especially, young people rightly consider an online presence both self-evident and an integral part of their lives. But how does this impact on their emotional development? And does the way we network online ultimately determine our offline relationships?

The “Private and public on the Internet” cycle seeks to explore how we have come in recent years to attribute the features of a public place to the Internet. For better or worse, we tend to take it for granted that the freedoms, rights and obligations that govern our behaviour and relationships in public space apply, or at least should apply, as they stand in cyberspace. But is that actually the case?