[Electronic media] have become an essential feature of modern life because they have helped to mitigate the disruption of stable community ties that has been a characteristic of our era…
The loosening of these ties has also resulted in a greater degree of privatization in our lives; in a rapidly changing and often bewildering world, we retreat to the stability and security of our homes…
For many people, the electronic media fill a void by bringing into their private environments information and entertainment that helps to mitigate their aloneness.
— Volti, R. (1995). Society and Technological Change, 3rd Edition. Chapter 12: The Electronic Media, p. 205. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
