The customers are out there. A recent survey of 20,000 households found Americans using the Internet not just as an information source, but to carry on social relationships through electronic forums such as bulletin boards, chat rooms, and electronic mailing lists. The researchers found that what Internet advertisers have not yet figured out is how to translate this rich community spirit into a social context for products and services.

"In these forums, users meet new people, share ideas, and express their opinions and feelings," says Woo Young Chung, instructor in management information systems at SMG. "And people in online communities really get to know each other well," he adds. The study was conducted by Chung and Professors John Henderson and Lee Sproull and Assistant Professor Suzanne Iacono of SMG's Systems Research Center and sponsored by A. C. Nielsen.

"When consumers share a common interest in a product, that product can take on dimensions beyond individual satisfaction with its use," says Chung. "For example, fans of The X-Files are as much a community of kindred spirits as individual viewers of a television show. All this suggests that the advertising expertise developed for conventional media isn't sufficient to advertise and market on the Internet. Vendors need to gain new expertise on the social implications of the Internet and how to leverage the social interactions that take place there."

These communities themselves can also directly impact Internet businesses. Since online communities are both vast and growing quickly, bad word of mouth can be a vendor's nightmare. "The president of Amazon.com remarked that dissatisfied customers don't tell 6 friends -- they tell 6,000 online friends," notes Chung.

The impact of welfare reform. SSW Assistant Professor Mary Elizabeth Collins has received a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance to examine the impact of recent welfare reforms on families headed by teenage parents.

Since reform, teen parents must live with their parents, other family members, or a guardian to be eligible for Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC). When this isn't possible, Teen Living Programs have been developed to allow teen parents to cultivate, in a safe and supportive setting, the skills and knowledge to be competent parents and to lead independent, productive lives. Massachusetts operates 22 such programs throughout the state. "I plan to assess the impact of welfare reform on the general teen parent population as well as teens residing in Teen Living Programs," Collins says.

Collins will begin by comparing teen parents who first received transitional assistance prior to welfare reform and those first receiving assistance after reform. "I'll also interview teen parents who have stayed in a Teen Living Program at least one month since the programs were developed," says Collins, "and I'll make site visits to examine program implementation issues." Finally, Collins will do a census of available resources for teen parents throughout the state. In particular, she will focus on repeat pregnancies, child abuse and neglect reports, child health indicators, and people who leave TAFDC.