The networked home: an analysis of current developments and future trends

The paper examines the concept of the networked home as both a social institution and a technological construction. While the concept of networks is not new to family studies, the new technologies of information and communication are requiring us to look at the home as an intersection point of sociology and technology. Fundamental to our analysis is the concept of home as living space that unfolds into a collection of multiple centers – home as activity center, entertainment center, work center, information center, communication center, learning center and shopping center. In our analysis, the living space is subdivided structurally into social, physical and technological spaces in which the centers are embedded as organic elements. The integration of the centers with the living space model is fundamental to understanding the home as a networked home.