Sunday Feature

Paul Bennun goes on a seven-day digital diet. News, food, entertainment and social life are all accessed solely through the portal of his computer screen. From his desktop he uses Skype to conduct interviews to assess the social implications and cultural ramifications of a life lived online. We hear the arguments for and against the effects of virtual interaction, from the psychological repercussions of being able to contrive multiple web personas, to the social impact of flexible working conditions facilitated by wireless gadgetry, to the different ways of thinking required for Instant Messaging. Featuring interviews with Howard Reingold (inventor of the term 'virtual community'), sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, 'cybershrink' Sherry Turkle and science-fiction writer William Gibson.