From M/Cyclopedia of New Media
Introduction
- Many studies have been undertaken into the behavioural effects and dangers of frequent online interaction. Below is a selection of the major effects associated with frequent use of such media as email, chat, newsgroups and other public domains and virtual communities.
Features Important to Social Interaction
- Addiction – Whittle describes online interaction addiction when an individual’s online activities interfere with more important external activities (Whittle, 1998: 190). It has been well documented that online addictions have led to broken families and unemployment. However, one of the largest problems encountered by frequent users is that it is difficult to draw the line at frequent use and obsession. What may be an obsession for some, is not considered so for others.
- Self-infatuation and need to belong and need to seek approval from others creates a dilemma for the frequent/addicted user. It has been highlighted that often cases of addiction surface from users who have spent large amounts of time interacting with others and discussing their personal characteristics and habits (Whittle, 1998: 191).
- Identity crisis – A well-known side effect of frequent use of online interaction is the development of a multiple personality, or identity crisis. Turkle defines such a crisis when experiences in cyberspace become more appealing than experiences in real life and further, users put real life relationships and concerns on the back foot (Turkle, 1998, 210). As there is a lack of accountability for communications online, it becomes easy to categorise an identity crises as the difficultly faced by avid users to separate fact from fiction and reality from online encounters. However, to say that online encounters are not reality is not entirely correct. Rather, it should be the loss of the ability to draw the line between what is perceived reality online and what is materially real in a users life.
- Seclusion – The dichotomy that online interaction creates for its users is the more connections they make with people online, the more connections they loose in reality. This ironic position is perhaps the most common behavioural effect of frequent use of online communication media. The divide between the real world and the cyber world widens when one looks to the ways in which users can deal with difficult situations. In real life, one needs to confront problems, usually face to face. In the realms of cyberspace, users can simply choose to block other users, disassociate themselves from a forum and the like. In short, the problems are never confronted. The problem this creates for frequent users is one of alarm. Often one can find it difficult to face problems in real life, as they are so accustomed to hiding away from them or avoiding them altogether online.
- Exaggerated Cynicism – After being exposed to an online environment where there is the chance of loss of privacy, deceit and other untoward notions, it can become very easy for avid users to transfer their adept cynicism to real life situations. In such instances, it is very important that users' cynical and sceptical mindsets are kept when interacting in online environments but relaxed in the real world.
Bibliography
Turkle, S (1998) Life on the Screen : Identity in the Internet Age. New York ; Simon &Schuster.
Whittle, D (1998) Cyberspace: The Human Dimension. New York : W H Freeman & Co. ISBN 0716783118
Related Wiki Links
Online Social Interaction - Chat(MSN)
Online Social Interaction - Forums, Message Boards & Newsgroups
Online Social Interaction - The Virtual Community
Online Social Interaction - Email
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Elizabetta Sorbello 19:22, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
