The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had.
-Eric Schmidt
In a recent article a Michigan woman named Nancy Makin claims to have lost 500 pounds by going on an “Internet Diet.” While excessive computer use has been linked to obesity, she says that because the internet allowed for anonymity she was able to make friends through chatrooms, which gave her motivation to start slimming down. As an obese woman she found it difficult to interact with people in person and only left her home eight times in the past 12 years. It was only when she began having a social life online that she decided to stop using food to deal with her feelings of isolation. "Anonymity was key," she said. "They couldn't look at me and judge me based on how I looked."
As a fairly recent phenomenon itself, the internet has grown rapidly in use and influence. While the internet environment has been continuously changing as technology evolves, we find ourselves confronting significant new issues as a result. Some theories such as the CFO perspective predicts that due to the lack of cues in CMC, the use of the internet will only lead to underdeveloped and negative impressions and relationships. Yet while there are instances in which this is the case, the experience of Nancy Makin is a prime example that shows that not only do people form intimate relationships online but that the internet will continue to serve as a medium that can connect and influence users. Theories such as the social information processing theory (SIP) that rejects the view that the absence of nonverbal cues restricts the capability to exchange social information will continue to be supported. Another phenomenon that will always hold is interpersonal attraction online. According to McKenna’s relationship facilitation factors (identifiability, the removal of gating factors, interactional control, being able to connect to similar others, getting the goods), the internet will actually increase relationship development. In the example of Nancy Makin who could not interact ftf due to her physical appearance, the removal of gating features such as physical attractiveness allowed her to form relationships online.
Yet while many theories/phenomena will continue to hold as the internet and our uses of it changes, there are also many that are bound to change. Wallace predicted that the eyeball camera will become widespread enough that soon enough most people will have one and the choice to turn it on or off to reveal yourself will be part of the impression one makes. As we can see, Wallace was wrong, at least about the installation of cameras. While the use of video interaction has increased, it is still not popular enough and most likely will not be prevalently used, which shows how much internet users value anonymity online. Yet while users appear to continue to value anonymity, users are now being forced to reveal their identity. For example to be able to post up comments on Wikipedia, users must now identify themselves to increase accountability. If this is applied to all websites, it is most likely that the social support groups online will become less popular because according to Walther & Boyd, part of the reason why online social support groups are appealing is because it is anonymous, whether it is perceived or real. Depending on how the issue of the freedom of speech on the internet is resolved, the future of online spaces remains unpredictable.
The existing theories and phenomena will also continue to change as technology changes. One example that is bringing about new issues is the use of virtual reality to help patients with psychological disorders. A new, high-tech system was designed to treat military veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by creating a “virtual” world that simulates the sources of combat stress. Not only is this being used on veterans but also on patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is a significant discovery because now not only is it critical to study how the internet affects behavior but also how the computer can be used to intentionally change one’s psychology in reality.
As for Comm245, while there are recent developments that were not discussed in class there is just one issue that could have been touched upon, which is the relationship between internet use and learning. I always wondered whether the use of the internet has increased the capacity to learn and retain information or if computers are now the new brains. Yet while we did not discuss this issue in class, I learned one lesson that would help me approach the issue. I found that the neither technological determinism nor social construction can adequately explain the internet because it lies somewhere in the middle. It appears as if the more one explores psychology and the internet, the more we find that there are still many characteristics of the relationship between the internet and its users that we cannot fully understand. Perhaps the reason why there is still so much more to figure out is because the internet is still being experimented with and we’re just lucky enough to be the participants.
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