Online relationships are "less valuable," at least on listservs

Summary
The authors assert that the relationships formed online are "less valuable" than relationships formed offline. They arrive at this conclusion by examining two things: 1) how the quality of social interactions are affected when they are created over a digital medium and 2) whether online relationships supplant or suplement offline relationships.

The authors replicated a comparative study of communication media and found that email was less preferred by participants who wished to sustain personal relationships. Communication in person and over the phone were much better predictors of relationship strength. They examined listserv interactions to try and determine relationship strength in non-dyadic environments. Here, too, they found the quality of conversation low compared to face-to-face mediums.

Critique
I would have appreciated a more detailed examination of the listservs broken down by both activity level and list purpose. 33% of the listservs they examined had no activity during the observation period--I'm unclear as to why dead lists are allowed to weigh down the numbers they've come up with here. What's the point? At any rate, I'd be more interested in an examination of active listservs: are there similarities in joint enterprise? Are online relationships uniformly less valuable than offline relationships or are there situations in which online relationships are more valuable? All these questions are outside the scope of this article.

Connection to Cool Running
It's no listserv, but I see Cool Running as a place where people try to approximate the kinds of offline relationships they have--or would like to have--with other runners. Offline relationships between runners are likely about (in no order) creating accountability, staying motivated, enjoying the company of others, and feeling a part of a running community. I see elements of all these in the interactions that occur in Cool Runnings: people post reports, they engage in "off topic" talk, they get and give advice, etc.