'Tenant internet connects broader band of people'

Article in The Age about Infoxchange setting up broadband at the Collingwood flats:

Mr Mahar says that when he proposed wiring the Fitzroy flats, sceptics told him that computers would add to residents' isolation. But a study of the scheme, done by Swinburne University's Institute for Social Research, found the opposite was true: computers allowed tenants to participate more fully in the world around them. Young people used them to do homework, the unemployed searched for jobs and training, while an intranet site told residents what was going on around the estate.
Neighbours even began emailing each other to suggest meetings. Mr Mahar's favourite story is about a Serb and a Croat who lived next door to each other but had never spoken: after going online they began chatting about Solitaire on their PCs.

Read the whole article here.