NetDynam 2.0

Saturday started and finished with snow. I did not feel much like doing anything, but we decided the go past the railway station to the old markets and the ‘wooden building district’. The snow wasn’t so bad, but it did make walking about a little colder on the feet and face.

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Internet communication increases the range of possible social networks that a person can connect to, and adds elements of diversity that are very appealing to some (Wellman, 96). There is a “hyperpersonal aspect” to Internet communications, a way to be more selective about how one presents ones self. The kinds of differences between people that might inhibit relationship formation are hidden. This promotes a sense of group membership, one that is solely depended on the perceptions of the receiver. Control over impression formation is enhanced in written mediums. “Another component of the model, feedback, suggests that these heightened self-presentations and idealized perceptions magnify each other to a superordinal level, as users reciprocate each other’s partial and selective presentations.” (Walther, 96). This magnification factor of the hyperpersonal model is a theoretical formulation that could help account for the high rates of flame wars (arguments) and love affairs that happen on the net.  There is as yet no empirical evidence supporting the observation that flame wars and love affairs occure in open, interactive virtual communities at a rate higher than what one would expect, but there is a growing body of anecdotal reports of this and a widespread awareness of a high frequency of these extreme interpersonal cyberspace exchanges.

There can be a voyeuristic aspect to cyberspace participation, which may be more salient to some that others. People that “lurk”, participate in a read only mode, in chat rooms or email groups, are surreptitiously witnessing the ideas, feelings and interactions of the active participants. In the more academic discussion forums, where the social norm is the exchange of research ideas and the philosophic debate of social abstraction, this voyeuristic component is not a significant attraction. This is in contrast to some chat rooms where the suggested topics often invite flirtations, or the forums set up to provide emotional support for difficult personal problems. In these forums, lurking is a means of gaining access to very personal information in a manner that no real life forum can offer. This electronic eavesdropping is one possible source for the positive reinforcement that the nature of the Internet provides to those for whom it’s use has become pathological. This emotional stimulation is on a schedule of reinforcement called variable-ratio, as one can never predict just when some “juicy tid-bit” of self-revelation will come across one’s screen, and the actual exposure rate to this is dependent on the amount of time spent on-line.

The attributes of Internet communications that stand out as offering the potential for rewarding, stimulating emotional involvement’s include; it’s ease of access and 24 hour availability, the wide range of diverse personal connections possible, the hyperpersonal nature of interpersonal relationships, the ability to witness others interacting (with no risk) and the uninhibited nature of no risk relating. It is reasonable to assume that many people will find one or more of these factors reinforcing enough to become passionate about their Internet activities, at least for the initial period of time when they are still discovering the capabilities of new Internet social connections. These factors are necessary, but not sufficient, to explain true pathologic computer use. Some additional qualities inherent in the user must be present that differentiate those for whom Internet communications are a passionate past-time from those for whom this activity becomes a compulsion resulting in loss. The passion possible is understandable, as virtual community involvement’s dissolve geographic boundaries and expand the ability of people with common interests to share ideas important to them. However, the nature of addiction is to continue to pursue the initial excitement one received, at the risk of other social involvement’s and responsibilities.

EXCERPTED FROM:

Is the Internet Addictive, or Are Addicts Using the Internet? 

 By Storm A. King 

December, 1996

 

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Cite as: 

King, S. A. (1996).  Is the Internet Addictive, or Are Addicts Using the Internet?  Retrieved [fill in todays date here] from the World Wide Web: http://www.concentric.net/~Astorm/iad.html 

I like this little echo feature in that it gives a very quick impression about what is up and about on ND2.0 with nod to volume as a discriminator.

click to see large version

The Hotel St Petersbourg  offered a good deal for a three night stay, a deal which included free wireless internet and full English breakfast—as well as being located in the ‘old town’. This convinced us to stay there the day before we left, with me checking out places to stay via the internet.

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An ocean view is what you want, the sight of pieces of ice floating by the goal of the ferry passenger. The Tallink Ferry Super Star taller than a ten story building: it is a ten storey building, and taller, brightly coloured and heading due south out of Helsinki west port at exactly 2.30pm on its way to Tallinn, decked out inside like a rugby leagues club.

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Should overuse of the Internet become a mental disorder?
By Christopher Lane, Ph.D. on March 25, 2009

[excerpt]
The next time your son begs to continue playing Nintendo Wii over dinner, your daughter texts her friends for the umpteenth time that day, or you find yourself lost online, madly pursuing links to new websites, consider this: American psychiatrists are busy debating whether such activities should soon be known as “Internet addiction.”

One year ago, the American Journal of Psychiatry published an editorial calling for recognition of internet addiction as a “common disorder.” A crop of almost surreal newspaper articles followed, with titles such as “Net Addicts Mentally Ill, Top Psychiatrist Says.”

But the response from our medical and mental-health communities was closer to a collective yawn. True, a skeptical reply came from the Harvard Mental Health Letter, whose editor, Michael Craig Miller, warned that it’s “probably not helpful to invent new terms to describe problems as old as human nature.” Other than him, few experts seemed to notice—much less mind—that the flagship journal of American psychiatry was arguing quite seriously that overuse of the internet might be a psychiatric illness, on a par with, say, schizophrenia.

The anniversary of the editorial seems like a good moment to revisit its controversial claims and see whether they have any merit.

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Results 1 – 10 of about 992,000 for “internet addiction”. (0.38 seconds)

See:

Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Clinical Disorder
KIMBERLY S. YOUNG. CyberPsychology & Behavior. FALL 1998, 1(3): 237-244.

1998!!!