A survey of New Yorkers deprived of residential telephone service for 23 days validates previous discursive research on the social role and psychological functions of the medium. Respondents who said they enjoyed and needed the telephone were found to feel isolated, uneasy, and less in control without it. While 33% used more media during the deprivation period, few wrote more letters. Interpretation of the findings concludes that, though many regard the telephone with ambivalence for its intrusive capacity, most value it strongly for the sense of "symbolic proximity" it provides with scattered family and friends. (Author)