Relationship Between Virtual Socializing and Out-of-Home Social Activities

This paper contributes to the literature on travel-demand modeling by examining the relationships between virtual socializing and out-of-home social activities. Data from the 2000 San Francisco Bay Area Travel Survey were used in the analysis. The empirical models suggest that individuals are less likely to undertake both virtual socializing and out-of-home socializing on the same day. However, those who do not undertake any one form of socializing are less likely to pursue the other form of social activity over a two day period. Further, the paper also finds that pursuit of virtual socialization increases the time spent in out-of-home social episodes on days other then the day of virtual socializing. It is also important to note that these effects were obtained after controlling for several other factors (such as household and person characteristics, mandatory time-use patterns, and day-of-the week) which may be expected to influence social activity behavior. Overall, these findings suggest that the relationships between virtual socializing and out-of-home social activity participation within a day and across days are different (substitution within a day and complementary across days).