It's easy – and tempting – to believe that cellphones and the Internet are making Americans more isolated as they filter out those around them and focus on lighted screens, distant Facebook friends and LOL conversations.

But a new survey finds that this may not be true.

In fact, Americans who use such technologies have larger and more diverse "core discussion networks" than those who don't – and their networks also appear to be more diverse.

Though the study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds evidence that using social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn can indeed substitute for a measure of neighborhood involvement, Internet users in general are just as likely as others to visit with neighbors. Cellphone users, bloggers and those who use the Internet frequently at work are actually more likely to belong to a local volunteer group as well.

"It really adds a whole new social setting," says sociologist Keith Hampton of the University of Pennsylvania and one of the authors of the study.

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