The Internet and Psychological Well-being Robert Kraut Professor of Social Psychology and Human Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University The personal computer and the Internet are arguably the most successful home information technologies of the past 50 years. Yet claims about their social impact are controversial. This talk reviews findings from the past five years of the Homenet project, an attempt to empirically assess the impact of widespread computing and Internet use in the home. The research documents that interpersonal communication is a dominant use of the Internet. However, comparisons of matched conversations and relationships show that computer-mediated communication, and especially electronic mail, is less valuable for building and sustaining close social relationships than other means, such as face-to-face contact and telephone conversations. Moreover, early longitudinal research from the project (1995-1997) showed that as participants used the Internet more, they became less socially engaged and more lonely and depressed. New research conducted in 1999 illustrates what may the changing impact of the Internet, though. Use of the Internet in 1999 is increasing social involvement and psychological well being and amplifying people’s ability to exploit their extroversion and social support. We speculate the Internet is fostering better outcomes in 1999 than in 1995 /1996 in part because the Internet itself has evolved, attracting a wider user base and offering new services, and because people have learned better ways of using the technology.