Studying the coevolution of social distance, offline- and online contacts

We study the co-evolution of social distance, offline contact and online contact.The highest explained variance was found in the models predicting social distances.Online contacts had the lowest explanatory value from among the three variables.Offline contact seems more effective than online contact in reducing social distance.Low percentages of the population maintain frequent contact either online or offline. We inquire about the correlations between contact and perceived social distance: Whether in line with the contact theory, online as well as offline contacts that Israeli Jews have with Arabs affect their perceived social distances from Arabs, or rather whether Israeli Jews who feel closer to Arabs maintain more offline and online contacts with Arabs, according to the social homophily approach.We found that social distance, online contact and offline contact were mutually supportive, whereas the background variables included in the regression analysis (age, gender, religiosity, place of residence, education and income) had no effect on either of them. While the three are mutually supportive, perceived social distance and offline contacts had greater explanatory value than online contacts.

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