Comm 245 Blue

AYO Technology- Predicting the Future

2007-12-10T11:08:00.000-05:00

"Baby it's a new age, you're like my new craze..."

Considering the fact that the Internet is changing at such a rapid pace, with the heightened use of richer mediums of CMC and the reconstruction of social norms, the future of Psychology of Social Computing may reflect some of these changes. However, despite the rapid pace at which social computing is changing, theories such as O'Sullivan's notion of Impression Management, will still remain relevant. As richer mediums are explored to enhance the social networking experience, it is apparent, that the need to manage our impressions will still remain. Albeit, with the influx of webcams in conjunction with programs such as SKYPE complete reinvention may not be as easy of an option.

In addition, the notion of internet "addiction" will inevitably remain with the coming years. While, new empirical evidence may arise that may attempt to discredit the theory, the truth of the matter is, considering the wide spread cases where internet "addition" has and continues to leave its mark, such does not seem very likely. It is my belief that as the Internet continues to evolve, new avenues of "addiction" will begin to rear their ugly head. For example, take "Facebook mania". I bet that no one would have thought this seemingly innocent website would be the source of procrastination and addiction to college students. However, in less than a year, Facebook has undergone some pretty hefty changes, with the addition of third-party applications, the Newsfeed, and status indicators. What should also be taken into consideration is how such additions have also brought up heated debates about privacy and user rights.
response to the nature of the changes. For example, as more and more information becomes readily available online, through social networking sites, new issues/technologies will emerge, leading to a revaluation of present theories and discussion.

Thus, I anticipate that as the Internet changes new issues will emerge, based on the public'sproprietary rights to such "uploads" may become a source of conflict. I know that currently the idea that deactiving one's Facebook or Myspace accounts does not completely "remove" one's information from the cyberworld, is rather troubling for many. In addition, as employers are becoming more Internet savy, this comes as a major concern to students who are about to enter the workforce. Additionally, the PC and laptop, are not the only technologies that will have to be considered in the coming years. Now, with the advent of devices such as the iPhone, internet "addiction" will be taken to a whole new height. As the line between the real world and the Internet is continuously blurred, it will become harder for concepts such as gender and identity and visual anonymity to remain salient. For example, while certain cues were heavily relied upon to denote gender classification and identity, new devices, such as microphones which alter the sound of your voice, do not allow for such cues to be as deterministic.

Finally, as my time in this class has come to an end, I think that what is missing is a section on exploring the new issues and theories that have arisen recently. While, I think that a good deal was included into discussion of present theories, I would have liked to focus more on what researchers are currently discussing. Given that the class is so large, I'm not sure how feasible this would be, but I think it would be nice to have an experiment element linked to this course. Otherwise, I enjoyed this course, and would highly recommend it to my friends!

2007-12-08T12:31:00.000-05:00

Bonus Assignment – Experimenting with the Internet

2007-12-07T16:34:00.000-05:00

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.

The Glass Ball

2007-12-07T02:27:00.000-05:00

The Internet has been in use for just under two decades now, and we’ve already witnessed sweeping changes in the way online communication is conducted. Tim Berners Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, had simply wanted to facilitate the sharing of documents among physicists at CERN back in 1990. Today, we have email, instant messenging, streaming video, and social networking sites. Businesses, schools, government agencies, and ordinary citizens around the world rely on the Internet for communication and information exchange. As we make progress, the web will continue becoming richer as a communication medium, and it will permeate society to an even greater extent that it does today.

This has implications for several of the theories we’ve discussed in class this semester. For one, the CFO theories will become even less relevant than they already are. The increasing prevalence of avatars, VoIP, and video conferencing technologies means that CMC is rapidly outgrowing the “text-only” environment it was once restricted to. (Some might even argue that CMC can match FtF even without additional cues.) As more and more online spaces gain richness, media richness theory will begin to make less sense. You will choose a richer media to communicate with those you know really well (i.e., FtF). Text-only spaces will be relegated to communication with outsiders (perhaps people you’ll only talk to once or twice). The synchronicity of the medium shall largely determine which online spaces are used for efficiency, at least when communication is one-to-one.

However, text-only online spaces will never really become fully extinct. USENET, established in 1980 and still thriving, is a testament to this assertion. Chatrooms and forums are convenient for large group discussions among a community of members, where added richness would just distract from the content. In fact, the text-only nature of social support groups is even an advantage when people want to avoid embarrassment. Therefore, it will ultimately possible for theories like the impression management model and McKenna relationship facilitation factors to stay relevant in predicting text-based relationships and interaction.

The hyperpersonal model and SIDE are also likely here to stay for a long time. Humans are essentially prediction machines: we are wired to generalize, draw conclusions, and make predictions about our environment based on what we know. When we know just a little, we will inevitably make all our predictions based on that bit of knowledge. Greater richness will not much change this fact; even in FtF we make generalizations about people based on their appearance, age, gender, race, voice, etc. Were this not so, prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes would not be so ubiquitous.

Advances in technology may blur the boundary between virtuality and real life. Imagine glasses or visors which augment your view of the world, allowing you to digitally interact with other objects and people in your physical environment. (Simple electronic glasses have already been attempted for basic vision correction.) Would Internet addicts still be considered as such if online devices became as necessary as hearing aids or contact lenses?

Serious lying online will become less common overall, for two reasons. First, as newer generations become more familiar with the Internet, they will realize that online interactions are highly recordable. For serious lies, many people currently don’t realize that IM conversations can get logged automatically, search engines will crawl websites, and corporate email is routinely stored in backup. Second, increased richness means that online communication will feel less distributed and less visually anonymous. Theories we have developed about lies (social distance theory, feature-based model, etc.) will continue to apply, but less strongly than they used to.

Looking forward, one might envision a convergence of theories from general psychology and sociology and the theories proposed in a social computing psychology class such as this one. This would not be surprising: as technology enables richer forms of communication in various dimensions, it lets us inch ever closer to a true FtF interaction (while retaining the option of communication in leaner psychological spaces.)

One issue that we didn’t really touch upon in this class was privacy. The dawn of the Internet (and Web 2.0 in particular) has granted us access to a huge network of information and people. People are eager to broadcast to the world, throwing out tons of information about themselves online. In other contexts, much of this information would be considered personal/private matters, so why do people relinquish it online so easily? This is particularly noticeable in personal blogs, social networking sites, Twitter, AIM profiles, etc., where there is a broad but mostly anonymous audience. More importantly, what are the consequences of this large-scale self-disclosure, in terms of both how the public perceives you, and how you respond? We have been told time and again to censor our Facebook profile, lest employers stumble upon our unprofessional traits. Perhaps one day, people will casually overlook these things, realizing that everyone has a multifaceted lifestyle and it is nothing special. Private life self-disclosure would become the norm, and no one would feel the need to partition their self-presentation into professional, casual, and personal categories.

Bonus Assignment - Anonymity and Online Harassment

2007-12-04T10:05:00.000-05:00

As the Internet becomes even more of a ubiquitous presence in our lives, the relationship between social psychology and online interaction will continue to grow. It is likely we will become increasingly dependent on it as a utility as time progresses, to the point where a good number of very basic services (such as banking and shopping) will only be done electronically. With the steady increases in dependency and level of access come previously unseen phenomena, as well as old issues upgraded for the current age; some of which are, indeed, problematic.

Recently, the blogosphere has been in an uproar over the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier, who was reportedly the victim of "cyber-bullying" at the hands of Lori Drew, a friend of the family whose daughter went to school with Megan. Drew posed as a boy named "Josh Evans" on Myspace and proceeded to become well-acquainted with Megan under the scrutiny of the girl's parents. Some time passed, and the messages suddenly became disparaging, then hateful; eventually culminating with a statement that said the world would be a better place without her, to which the girl promptly committed suicide. There are conflicting reports as to what originally sparked this situation (some say Megan was the classic school bully, still others say she was merely targeted for being unattractive and emotionally unstable), but the prosecuting attorney has decided not to press charges against Drew, since a) there is no legal precedent for the situation, and b) it cannot be proven the words of "Josh Evans" are, specifically, what drove Megan over the edge.

Patricia Wallace in The Psychology of the Internet addresses the issue of 'trolling' in relationship to establishing superiority and group cohesion (101). In a lot of ways, the issues are similar; however, most trolling usually occurs at random in a relatively isolated environment, leads to flame wars, and fizzles out in a short amount of time. In this particular situation, you have consistent and targeted psychological manipulation of a minor by an adult posing as a peer. Because multi-use/level services such as Myspace and Facebook didn't exist at the time of publication, it stands to reason that this phenomenon is undocumented. However, she postulates that the relative anonymity lent by computer mediated communication is directly linked to whether, how, and to what degree individuals express aggression. Could this have a hand in how far Drew chose to take the Josh Evans persona, originally intended as a joke? Following that, how responsible is she for Megan's death?

A simple Youtube search for 'cyber + bullying' yields a myriad of results, most of which seek to inform the casual user about the phenomenon. The sheer number of hits implies that this phenomenon is not uncommon, to the point where special interest groups are urging Congress to pass legislature that would define harassing someone over the internet as a punishable offense. If a law is passed, it will have far-reaching implications for online interactions as well as free-speech laws in general. As far as the course is concerned, despite our in-depth discussions of the effects of anonymity on self-presentation, I believe that the topic of cyber-bullying will become more and more of an issue as most of our world moves into the online arena, and should be addressed in further depth.

Bonus Assignment: 2020: A Space Odyssey

2007-12-04T00:37:00.000-05:00

Its no secret that the internet is growing at unfathomably rapid rates, and that soon we will all have high bandwidth access available all the time, anywhere. The implications of a truly omnipresent internet are complicated and difficult to predict, even for the short term. I believe as the internet becomes a greater presence in our lives, the psychology of social computer will merge with social psychology. The principals that hold true in the real world will be the ones that stick around the longest.

For example, the fundamental attribution error will always exist. That is something that is ingrained in our psyches and won't change regardless of our medium of communication. But lets look at some of my favorite theories from the semester.

Hyper-personal. This theory seems to have become the go-to theory for 245. I'm not sure how, but maybe because it is so easily applicable and we've all experienced it before. Regardless, I would expect this theory to get modified in the future. As the internet becomes more high bandwidth, and the use of videos and pictures becomes the default (as opposed to text) the number of cues available online will begin to match those in f2f. I would believe this would lead to a decrease in over-attribution as people would have enough cues to make an accurate judgement. On the other hand though, I would expect an increase in selective presentation. Being able to portray yourself differently than you do in the real world is one of the draws to the internet, and as so the technology will have to answer it. Digital cameras already have the ability to make you more photogenic. The newest version of iChat lets you video chat with fake backdrops you can set. I'm actually playing with it right now, its really really cool. So people will get a better idea of who they are talking too, but people will also have more tools for deception.

I also would predict an increase in problematic internet usage. People are already addicted to information, and turn to the internet for their fixes. As it becomes an even larger part of our lives, the community gets larger, and the capabilities increase, and it becomes more available, I anticipate more people having a hard time distinguishing between their real lives, and their digital ones. At the same time, people might experience information overloads, as they can never really leave the office, or have a moment to themselves, all sorts of other psychological disorders could become associated with being plugged in at all times. On the other hand, online support networks would be more available, and people might be able to get the help they need right there on the internet.

I think this class covers a wide variety of theories dealing with interaction online. I think the course could be improved by covering the subject in ways other than the theoretical. If we learned about how experts apply these theories, and what their implications are in the real world, for example how programmers design systems as a result of findings. I also think it would be cool if we learned more about what's going on in Professor Hancock's top secret deception facilities.

Thank you blogosphere, we've had some great times. I appreciate your insightful comments, witty posts, and the aid in understanding dense academic readings.

bonus assignment

2007-12-03T18:09:00.000-05:00

In the future, the internet will become more and more prominent in everyday life- both having to do with relationships and not. I recently read somewhere that online shopping has sky-rocketed over the holiday season this year as compared to past years. And it’s not even December 5 yet. People would rather stay at home and shop then go out in the cold, traffic, crowds and look for gifts. The internet is the “one stop shop” without even having to leave the house. You can find anything and everything for that special person. The internet is easy. That, I think, is a big part as to why it is so important in many people’s lives. Whether it’s a relationship you are in, or an object you need to buy, or news you want to read, the internet has it all. And in the future, who knows what amazing new things people will come up with in the online world. It’s mind blowing to think of the possibilities. I think most of the theories we discussed in class will continue to be a factor for a long time in the online world. No matter how much more technologically advanced we get, people will still treat rich and lean mediums the same way. People will still find it often times easier to talk and share things about themselves online rather then in person. People will lie about their height or weight or college degrees or personality in order to be accepted and in order to not be lonely. People will fall in love, fall out of love, make business deals, argue and agree. And this will happen all online. But people will still interact outside of the online world. Still have families, settle down, have neighborhood bbq’s, go to church, the grocery store and the gym. School will still be a place where kids learn how to behave and interact with peers. Don’t get me wrong, this will all still happen. But there will be a constant theme- an overriding power which is rapidly beginning to show its force. And that, my friends, is the internet: Email, chatrooms, AIM, blogs. It will all become more present and even more part of everyday life. The challenge for the future will be to keep those face to face interactions strong and not let everything turn into CMC.

11: This is embarrassing

2007-11-27T09:46:00.000-05:00

If there is one regret I have in my life its getting involved with someone online. Not only did all my friends mock me relentlessly for having a myspace “girlfriend”, but also they haven’t stopped reminding me of it four years later.
Taylor was the answer to all of my prayers, or so I thought. I was in 10th grade and a card carrying member of the lonely hearts club. So when a random girl from the town next to me left me a friendly message, I was intrigued. She and I had similar tastes in music, and she thought I was cool. That was really all we had going for us.
Over the next few week’s we talked a lot online and even on the phone for a bit. We didn’t really have deep conversations, but she was very friendly, and I was okay meeting her in town for pizza after about a month, because we got along so well online.
This is a textbook example of the hyperpersonal theory. The hyperpersonal theory has five elements, and Taylor and I hit all of them.

1. Over-Attribution Process: Fewer cues lead to exaggerated impressions.
Because we met on myspace, and than moved onto instant messaging, I didn’t have much to judge this girl on, and so I gave her the benefit of the doubt, and thought she was cool.

2. Developmental Aspect: Better relationships form over time
Without my knowledge, our interactions developed straight into a relationship. Before long “<3 Steve” was in her AIM profile, and I had nothing to do with it.

3. Selective Self-Presentation
If anyone’s ever had “The Angles”, it was Taylor. Meeting her in real life was a total shocker. I was so suprised by the way she looked, nothing else really mattered. I was already ready to leave.

4. Re-allocation of cognitive resources: you focus so much on what you type, you don’t really pay attention to anything else.
Its true. I thought a lot about making myself sound cool. I thought so much about that, it didn’t cross my mind that she might be doing the same.

5. Behavioral Confirmation: if someone thinks you are X, you act X.
I wasn’t aware of this, but looking back it was probably true. The more Taylor liked me, the more likable I acted. I was nicer to Taylor than I was to any of my real friends.

So online, Taylor and I were great for each other. We had very little in common and weren’t aware of the pitfalls of myspace. Once I met her, however, I was confronted by someone who was far far less attractive than the girl I thought I had met online. It was immediately I decided to end this relationship, realizing I had walked right into what I thought only happened in jokes.

11: My Crazy Mormon Friend

2007-11-27T08:55:00.000-05:00

How can one put into words my friendship with Alexander, aka Dess, the crazy Korean Mormon from California? Dess is a missionary by daylight, and building-climber by night (he has been on mission for the past two years in Wyoming and Colorado spreading the word, and has also been to the rooftop of Baker Tower by means I will not disclose here). I met Dess on the Class of 2008 website 3 1/2 years ago. Back then, the website was a social tool for pre-freshmen to get to know each other based on common residences, majors, etc. Now the Class of '08 website has catapulted itself into a forum for keeping seniors updated on events culminating towards graduation. While viewing the website as a prefrosh, uncertainty was at its highest as I perused profiles similar to those found on Facebook, minus Scrabbulous. However, when I found out Dess was one suite over from me in Low Rise 7, the uncertainty between us began to decrease as we exchanged messages over the website, as well as IMs over the summer. Clearing up the gray area between two people via communication led to a greater affinity to my new friend.

The Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT), from Berger and Calabrese, states that the uncertainty reduction process leads to greater attraction between two people. This can occur through greater communication between the two, and ultimately the meeting of two people FtF after using CMC for some period of time. The more information is exchanged between partners, the more they will know each other, and if they get along, simply put, they'll like each other more. A myriad of cues are given FtF that are not available over CMC, such as appearance - after meeting Dess Ftf I know that he is not a slob, or doesn't wear a leather jacket with spikes coming out of it. Rather, he wears a t-shirt and jeans just like everybody else, or white buttoned down shirt and nametag when he's doing missionary stuff. One can also deduce race FtF - I already knew he was Korean from his last name, but when I saw him, then I could make sure. Carrying on a conversation in person can give one an idea of how the other person carries themselves - Dess was a little awkward at first, but weren't we all awkward as freshmen? One is also more able to tell whether another individual is happy, depressed, angry, or complacent FtF rather than its needing to be stated directly in words. When I met Dess online, I already knew that I liked the kid, but after meeting him FtF we became better friends as we were more familiar with each other. Today, Dess is one of my closest friends at Cornell, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Comments:

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-11-when-ms-goes-wrong.html

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/11-this-is-embarrassing.html

Enemies Falling In Love

2007-11-27T08:49:00.000-05:00

I read a story online where an individual in high school was falling for a girl who had absolutely no interest in him. She believed the rumors circulating around the school about him, and although the article does not say what they were, I the impression that they were not working in favor. These two individuals had never spoken and he got the impression that she hated him. One afternoon he found a personal ad of hers online so he decided to make a new email address and began to chat with her, telling her nothing but the truth; other than his name of course. He then tried writing her an email from his old address asking if they could meet and get to know each other. She quickly declined saying that she had a boyfriend. What she did not know was that her "boyfriend" was him. Shortly after this happened she asked him online if they could meet sometime. He was extremely nervous but agreed to meet. They arranged a time and place to meet and as he walked toward her table she did not believe and and actually asked him to recite the poem that he had written for her. They actually sat down, shared their first kiss and fell in love, and have been ever since.
This story is consistent with how SIP theory leads to relational growth online. Also, he was honest so when they met there relationship grew even more. If he had lied about himself or said things that were not true in order to impress her the relationship probably would have failed or been "jarred". This also relates to the hyperpersonal model because often online relationships lead to inflated impressions of one another. Their relationship was different because of the honesty and trust that they had developed of one another. They were able to do this because they did not engage in actions such as selective self presentation. This story shows exactly how a relationship can develop online if the participants are honest, which is very difficult to do online.

Assignment 11 - Meeting my boyfriend online: revisited.

2007-11-27T08:05:00.000-05:00

As previously stated here, I had known my significant other two years prior to us ever meeting face-to-face. We first met on a video game discussion forum and, after that community disbanded, continued to interact over AIM and later, via phone. When we finally decided to meet during spring break my sophomore year, it was slightly awkward for the first few hours until conversation drifted to more mutual subjects of interest; after that, it felt no different than any of the numerous other times we had spoken before.

Walther's Social Information Processing (SIP) theory is applicable here. SIP contests the notion that the absence of non-verbal cues restricts the effective exchange of social information and, instead, places an emphasis on the adaptation of cues to the channel over time. It assumes that, even though impression formation develops more slowly in CMC than FtF, over time, it will not be more or less impoverished in either mode of communication. In this case, we had both formed rather strong impressions of one another in the two years before we communicated face to face and didn't expect those perceptions to be otherwise modified by a change in medium. They were not, possibly because we had both maintained a policy of being perfectly honest, so we knew exactly what to expect the entire time. Also, because we had known each other for so long, a significant amount of social information had already been exchanged.

Ramirez and Wang's hypothesis (long-term online relationships taken offline will be overall negatively impacted) is incorrect in this case; our relationship has only improved by meeting offline, even though both of us were apprehensive of meeting face to face due to having heard various horror stories. The modality switch did little but create a slight uneasiness as both of us wondered whether or not one was negatively evaluating the other based on the increase of social cues. Again, perhaps our mutual honesty was the key here, as we managed to avoid the over-attribution process described in the Hyperpersonal Model (limited social cues obtained via CMC are exaggerated); false and unrealistic expectations on the part of one or both participants seem to be why most online-to-offline relationships fail.

A.11 - Student Twenty Something

2007-11-27T06:03:00.000-05:00

Having lived overseas, the high school I was accepted to back home in Toronto required I complete several research projects to fulfill certain provincial education standards and checks the summer before starting the 9^th grade. Due to the task being somewhat daunting for an almost 9^th grade student I was assigned numerous advisors in various fields; history, math, science, etc. I had one main advisor who I collaborated with determine my research topic and prepare for a 10-15 minute presentation at the end of the summer. Since I had yet to move to Toronto my relationship with my soon to be teachers began through the internet via email and specifically designed forums for the project. Despite some technical hang ups, I posted my questions on the forum for my teachers, emailed my thoughts, and read their responses. Over the course of the summer, I begin to develop what I thought was an understanding of the people I was communicating with.

However, after meeting some of my teachers a couple days before the big presentation I had an overwhelming sense of confusion and distance from people I had been talking to all summer. Suddenly it felt as if the summer had just started and my questions seemed awkward, and it was weird talking to these teachers. What happened in the shift from online to the real world?

My experience seems to reflect what Ramirez and Wang hypothesized and found consistent with their study that when moving from long-term computer mediated communications (CMC) to face to face (FtF) there will be additional social information evaluated negatively and uncertainty provoking rendering the switch overall negative. It seemed as if the knowledge I thought I know about my teachers was naïve, incomplete, and inadequate. As a result, when real life filled in the gaps, there was confusion and somewhat of a withdrawal.

The hyper personal model could help to explain what had happened. During my time communicating through CMC, all I knew of my teachers were their responses to my questions, I did not even have photographs of who was teaching me. As teachers are expected to be, their responses were polite and helpful. Due to lack of conflicting information, the over attribution process develops. They were polite and helpful so they must be really polite and helpful. This was reinforced throughout the summer, but when I met them in real life their politeness seemed stiff, formal and the help; just enough to get by. I was a simple 9^th grader, among many others taking up valuable summer time, so it seemed. The extra visual information tempered my reactions. In addition to hyper personal another effect could have also played a part. In a sense, I was self-centered. Emails were directed to me. I was having real conversations with my teachers. In reality I was student number twenty whatever out of thirty whatever. After meeting in real life, it was clear that the teachers’ priorities were elsewhere and understandably so.

As it stands, my experience seems to lend support to the hypothesis of Ramirez and Wang, after a relatively long online relationship, moving offline has an overall negative effect on the relationship.

Comment 1

Comment 2

Assignment 11 - An Online Relationship Gone Bad

2007-11-27T02:38:00.000-05:00

For this assignment, I will use the story of one of my best friend’s online relationships to demonstrate the hyperpersonal theory with relation to online relationships leaving virtuality. For the sake of this assignment, I will call my friend “Jade” for anonymity purposes. Now Jade and I were great friends throughout elementary and middle school. Once we separated and went to different high schools, we still kept in touch and I became Jade’s source of comfort and support through her tough online relationship.

Jade and I were juniors in high school when she told me of this boy she met in a national religious youth group newsgroup that facilitated interaction for chapters all over the United States. Over time, she became involved with a boy named Marc from Jacksonville, Florida. I was never a fan of online relationships because they always creeped me out, not knowing who could potentially be on the other end of the computer. However, I had no choice but to support my friend and hope for her safety. After about a year of communicating through email and instant message, Jade and Marc established a strong friendship and talked about deep feelings and emotions that they did not disclose to anyone they had met face to face. When it was time for their youth group’s national convention that year, they couldn’t wait to finally meet each other. From Jade’s point of view, even I admired Marc and put him on a pedestal based on the wonderful things Jade had pointed out about him. She thought he was spiritually gifted and concluded that he was perfect and nothing could change her feelings about him, not even a meeting face to face.

On the day of the convention, Jade and Marc planned to meet after an orientation meeting and I was shocked when I received a call from a hysterical Jade, extremely disappointed after her initial meeting with Marc. I think that the hyperpersonal model definitely came into play for Jade and Marcs’ relationship because Jade had initially painted an exaggerated, flawless picture of Marc in her mind and set high expectations for their meeting. She automatically wanted to believe that he was a great, wholesome guy just because he was a part of her religious youth group. Because of their limited virtual means of communication, they were able to carefully filer their information sharing and choose how they wanted to present themselves. This led to a disappointing first meeting because they were, for the first time, forced to interact without control over information disclosure. It turned out to be a challenge because both Jade and Marc had such strong feelings for each other just from talking online that they were devastated when they didn’t turn out to be the people they expected/wanted to be. This was a perfect example of the hyperpersonal model and in light of the theory, it is a shame that these exaggerated perceptions and expectations had to lead to a negative, disappointing outcome.

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/enemies-falling-in-love.html

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/she-blocked-him-when-myspace-love-goes.html

11 Meeting A Friend IRL

2007-11-27T01:40:00.001-05:00

One relationship I’ve had that started online was with a friend that I was developing a website with. We met each other online on a social news site and talked for many months as friends. After a while we realized that we were both interested in web design and decided to meet up. I got in the car and drove to meet him and was surprised by what I found.

Upon meeting, I initially liked him less than I had online. I’d say the hyperpersonal model definitely rang true here. Online I had thought of him as being very intelligent, and in person I still thought he was intelligent, but perhaps not quite as intelligent as he appeared on the Internet due to selective self-presentation. However, after some time I began to like more. I developed increased (platonic) attraction toward him, but for completely different reasons than the ones that had made me like him initially online. I would chalk this up to uncertainty reduction theory. So what happened was that I initially liked him less than I did online because of the hyperpersonal model, but in the end I began to like him more because I traits that weren’t apparent online.

In the end we decided not to go forward with our web project, or at least it is on backburner currently, but I still would consider my experience of meeting him online to be a positive one. My advice for those meeting someone for the first time would be that if you don't like the other person as much as you initially thought you would, don't treat it as a write-off, just take a deep breath and go out for a few beers and after a few more hours you may end up liking the other person even more.

Assignment 11: Awkwetch

2007-11-27T01:25:00.000-05:00

“Hi Vivian,

My name is Justin and coincidently, our mothers take the same bus to work everyday. I'm glad to see that another person goes to Cornell from back home. Apparently, our mothers exchanged our phone numbers, but I thought that calling a complete stranger was kinda awkward and sketchy. SO, I thought that emailing you would be a good idea since email is a trendy, modern less awkwetch (awkard + sketchy) way to communicate. Pardon my randomness.

So how do you like your first year at Cornell? My mother tells me you are in ILR, I am in architecture myself (third year). I hope you aren't too stressed and that your experience here is well worth it. I'm sure your spring break was a much deserved and restful one.
If you aren't busy, we should meet up some time over coffee and I can tell you about what you should expect at Cornell in your later years. Hope to meet you soon and if you need to contact me, my number is (917) 288 - 1967 and my AIM sn is nyczjust2nice. I'm usually in Rand Hall.

Talk to you soon,
Justin”

This was the first of many emails I received from someone who is now a good friend of mine. We began by conversing through email. Although he offered his screen-name and cell number, I wanted to get to know him a bit more before meeting him. After two weeks of emailing perhaps twice a week, our relationship moved to AIM. We talked daily, for about a week, sharing life stories (usually about our mothers who are extremely chatty!), before actually getting together, in person. When we met, we immediately hit it off; it seemed as if we’d been friends for years! I believe that URT (Berger&Calabrese 1997) can explain our relationship best because of the positive outcome that resulted from increased information about the other.

URT says reducing uncertainty will lead to attraction. My friendship with Justin began slowly, first with a few emails, but with every email he seemed even friendlier, always offering more information about himself. In the first email, as you can see, he disclosed very general information that he went to Cornell, was in AAP, and in his third year. He also offered to share advice, which seemed like a very nice thing for someone I didn’t know to offer. I knew he was from around where I lived because our mothers take the same bus, but I really didn’t know much else about him. With each conversation we had, I found out a little more about him. Sometimes we talked about family, other times we talked about our classes—regardless of the topic, I found myself often agreeing with the things he said or relating my experiences to his.

After about one month of CMC communicating, Justin and I finally settled on a convenient time for both of us to get lunch. When we met, we immediately hit it off. Communicating through email and AIM definitely led to that comfort of feeling like we had been friends for years! Everything mentioned or said in our CMC conversations seemed to hold true in FtF conversations. After meeting in person that first time, we started to talk less on AIM, but we got together in person more. We would make plans through email or AIM, and continue our friendship through weekly lunches and coffee meetings. As URT says, our relationship leaving virtuality had a highly positive outcome. After forming a relationship in CMC, our relationship moved successfully to FtF (aka Real World). URT was right in that the more we reduced uncertainty about the other, the more we wanted to know about each other, and the more positive the outcome of our friendship had.

It was (almost) love at first click

2007-11-27T01:02:00.000-05:00

One day, my friend Sarah revealed to me that had been talking via instant messaging to Josh, a boy she had met online a few months prior. Sarah and Josh’s relationship began on a videogame website where she had posted a question on one of the forums and he had responded with a joke. After a couple of messages, Josh and Sarah exchanged screen names and started communicating on a regular basis. Their friendships lasted for over a year and then they began dating junior year of high school and before they met, the couple decided to attend the same college after graduation. Sarah and Josh finally encountered face-to-face during orientation, on their first day at Delaware State.

The virtual stage of Josh and Sarah’s relationship extended all throughout high school. They sent each other pictures, emails and talked on the phone every night. The relationship moved from friends to couple over a long time, giving Sarah and Josh time to get to know one another in different situations and at different times. When they finally met, Sarah revealed to me that it felt like they had always known each other face-to-face and that there wasn’t any uneasiness or awkwardness. They instantly began to hold hands and Sarah moved into Josh’s dorm room the next week.

The Social Info Processing Theory (Walther) explains Josh and Sarah’s interaction. SIP rejects that the absence of non-verbal cues restricts the capability to exchange social information and states that over time cues are adapted to the verbal channel. Here, the key is time. Although impression formation develops more slowly in CMC than it does in FtF, after a while, it will reach the same level in both environments. Like in my friend’s case, the relationship extended long enough in a CMC environment that by the time it left the virtual world, it had reached the same level of relational development it would have if they had met in person from the beginning.

Overall, leaving virtuality and entering the FtF world can sometime lead to positive (Uncertainty Reduction Theory) or negative (SIDE) outcomes. In the case of Sarah and Josh, the outcome was neutral. Meeting FtF did not change their opinion of each other, rather it confirmed what they already knew about each other. This is because their relationship had matured so much that by the time they met in person that all barriers had been destroyed, doubts had been eliminated and they had become so comfortable and honest with each other that selective self-presentation, the risk of over-attributing (hyperpersonal) or generalizing (SIDE) were not issues anymore.

MY COMMENTS:
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/11-meeting-friend-irl.html

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/11-so-i-guess-im-your-roommate.html

Assignment 11: When MS Goes Wrong

2007-11-27T00:58:00.000-05:00

My friend “Charlie” was very much into online chat rooms back in high school. It was in one of these chat rooms that he met a girl named “Sarah”. They met randomly one day and enjoyed talking to each other, so they exchanged screen names began to chat on AIM. For more than a year he and Sarah spoke almost every day. Over the summer break between our junior and senior years of high school, he found out that Sarah was coming to the area to visit family near New York City. They arranged to see each other in the city and he was ecstatic about the chance to finally meet her.

When he got back from their meeting in the city he was very disappointed. He told me that Sarah was nothing like what he had expected. She had been so outgoing when they were chatting online, yet she was very shy in person. As they were talking face-to-face he realized that they did not share as much in common as he had thought. Additionally, he said that she was not as attractive as he had expected. The experience was a very powerful one for him and afterward he and Sarah chatted less and soon stopped communicating altogether.

Charlie’s experience fits very well with the factors and results of the Ramirez and Wang paper. Because he and Sarah had been chatting in the CMC environment for more than a year, their relationship can be considered a long-term association. Ramirez and Wang found that when a modality switch occurs from CMC to face-to-face for long-term associated partners, the results are that the social information will be more unexpected, more relationally important, evaluated more negatively, and will be uncertainty provoking.

The social information presented to Charlie in the face-to-face meeting pertaining to Sarah’s personality, along with the fact that he found they had very little in common, was definitely unexpected and important to the relationship. This can be explained by the fact that, over their long period of correspondence, Charlie had developed an idea in his mind as to what Sarah would be like using the principle of the Hyperpersonal Model. The idea here is that the few social cues he was given in CMC were exaggerated into stereotypes and (in this case) perceived as common ground. Also going along with Ramirez and Wang’s results, the new social information he received in the face-to-face interaction only proved to provoke uncertainty by going against his previous beliefs that Sarah was outgoing and gorgeous and caused him to evaluate this new social information more negatively, eventually leading to the end of their relationship.

I commented on:

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-11-online-relationship-gone.html

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/11-so-i-guess-im-your-roommate.html

She Blocked Him: When Myspace Love Goes Wrong

2007-11-27T00:27:00.000-05:00

My friend met a guy on Myspace about a year ago. He was a participant on MTV’s show “Yo Mamma”. Shortly after his 15 seconds of fame, she discovered that he had a Myspace page. One day she randomly sent him a message, commenting on something she noticed on his page. As the days went by, their interactions became more frequent. Online, his persona reflected the same confidence, intelligence, and wit that he presented on television. She made concluded this based on the content of his page. He had an eclectic taste in music, was well read, and seemed to be very social. She also discovered that he lived not too far from her on the Lower East Side. They ended up meeting in Central Park on their first date. To her surprise, he was a lot more easygoing and reserved than his online and television persona led her to believe. Also, he did not seem as witty and did not make as many sharp remarks in person. Instead, he was quiet and did not really have anything interesting to say.
Based on her experience, leaving virtuality fit with the factors and results discussed in the Ramirez & Wang paper. According to their study, individuals who first met FtF interactions and then shift to CMC exhibited “enhancement” effects during their relationship development. Individuals who met at first in CMC and then shifted to FtF interaction exhibited disappointment and negative effects. Since she was dissatisfied with the guy upon meeting him in person, it is apparent that her relationship supported this theory. After she and the guy started talking more in CMC and decided to finally meet, (i.e. shift to FtF), the relationship took a toll for the worse.
Her experience also supports Walther’s Hypersonal Model. Walter states that CMC factors lead to inflated perceptions of partners because in CMC one can selectively self present themselves. Because of such selectivity in what is presented in CMC, when one abandons CMC and shifts to Ftf they lack this same degree of control over what information is being presented. As a result, their impression of the other person is "deflated", which leads to disappointment. The guy was able to selectively self present himself on Myspace and TV, and exaggerated his positive attributes. Although my friend hoped for a love connection, what she ended up with was a lousy date and a wasted outfit.

2007-11-26T23:45:00.000-05:00

Assignment 11

2007-11-26T23:42:00.001-05:00

It was the summer of 2004, and I was getting prepared to begin my freshman year at Cornell University in the College of Engineering. I received an email informing me about the Cornell University Class of 2008 website. Excited about beginning college, I visited the site to see what it had to offer. Users were able to search other members of the Cornell class of 2008 based on name, residence hall, and college, just to name a few search criteria. I began chatting online with a member of my class who was in my college and living in my dorm. We found that we had a lot in common, and decided that we would attend some orientation events together once we arrived at school. After moving into our dorm in August, our relationship moved from CMC to face-to-face. It was interesting, since we already knew so much about each other after chatting for several weeks on AOL Instant Messenger. We ended up having a couple classes together. After that first semester, we didn't have many classes together, and drifted apart. Over the last three years at Cornell, we see each other from time to time, and say hello, but that is about it.

The shift in our relationship from CMC to FtF aligns with Walter's Hyperpersonal Model. Once we met face-to-face, we found that we were not as similar as we had thought when we were talking online. FtF communication allowed for more of our characteristics to come across, ones that were not apparent in the online environment. And as we learned more about each other, we drifted apart.

Corresponding with the findings of Ramirez and Wang, we were both disappointed that we did not have as much in common as we had initially thought (online), and drifted apart. This could be interpreted as a negative effect. This individual was nice and there was nothing wrong with them, but the relationship that we formed online before meeting face-to-face did not translate in the real world.

Comment 1
Comment 2

Assignment 11: Coming to College

2007-11-26T22:51:00.000-05:00

Our study of online relationships this year has focus primarily on distinguishing between computer mediated communication (CMC) and face to face(FtF) communication. In the latest article we examined by Ramirez and Wang the interaction of the two was considered, primarily when a relationship moves from CMC and the online world to FtF and the real world. One such personal experience I had was my freshman year here at Cornell. Like many freshman, I knew very few people at the school before arriving. Not wanting to leave my social life to chance, I took advantage of a newer tool that the internet offered: Facebook.

Using Facebook I was able to find and contact other people with similar interests and backgrounds. One person in particular I talked to a lot through CMC, hoping that the online correspondence might bloom into a friendship once we arrived on campus. Through his profile and text communication, I formed an impression of him, mostly based on what personal tastes and interests he had and other social cues I picked up. When we finally met on move in day, I was very surprised to find we were fairly different, and the friendship did not go very far beyond the occasional dinner in the dining hall and friendly “hellos” when walking on campus.

My initial search for people on Facebook on the basis of similar interests lends itself nicely to a Social Identification/Deindividuation (SIDE) model of online interaction. I looked for people that I could identify with and classify as the same “social category” as myself. With the friend identified above, this in particular was music and a more liberal political view. This combination immediately placed him in my mind right along with my group of friends back home, who all shared similar tastes. From this grouping, I formed a personality and look for this person based on my experiences with my friends from high school.

When move in day arrived, this initial impression was essentially shattered. He was very friendly, but had a much different manner than what I had envisioned from our text chats. Talking further with him removed him further from any social group that I could identify with. SIDE theory predicts that individual differences undermine social attraction. In moving from online to the real world, many of the perceived similarities that made us part of the same social group were dominated by the flood of new verbal and social cues that differentiated us. Based on this loss of group salience and increase in visual identifiableness, SIDE predicts a negative outcome when moving a relationship from CMC to real life. This prediction was supported by personal experience.

comments:
1
2

#11: A Wired Love

2007-11-26T22:38:00.000-05:00

Although there is a group of six cousins in my family that were born roughly around the same age and have always been very close, my cousin "James" has always been a little bit of an odd duck. His obsession with computers started early and he isn't a very social kid to say the least. He hacked our high school's computer system at age 14, dropped out of high school at age 15, got his GED and scored a sweet job with UPS that he's kept for about 4 years. During all this time, he never really had a clique or posse of friends, but he has had four different girlfriends. He's met each one virtually (one in a Yahoo chat, one through Fbook, and two through Myspace I believe). This Thanksgiving I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with his latest girlfriend, "Jessie". No matter how uninterested or preocuppied I pretended to be, she persisted to describe to me in great deal the AIM messages her and James exchanged that led their relationship to where it is now. She also proceeded to tell me how she is only 17 years-old and wants to marry James and start having children as soon as she turns 18 in seven months. Hah.

With such a strong, strange relationship these two have, one must wonder, "How did they find one another?", "What effect did the medium have on their getting together?" and "Will they last long-term?"The most significant theories that I can connect James and Jessies' preference for online love to are Wallace's "Attraction Factors". Wallace states that four factors (physical attraction, proximity, common ground and disinhibition effects) account for interpersonal attraction online. Physical attraction is perhaps the most important variable. In FtF interactions, many people judge or stereotype others based solely on looks first, then "get to know them". However, on the internet, individuals aren't constrained by physically attractiveness and usually get the opportunity to get to know one another without the bias of fortuante or unfortunate looks. Proximity online flows from intersection frequency. I believe that James and Jessie were able to first interact because they were in the same Yahoo chat room. Secondly, their frequent AIM conversations helped them interact frequently and therefore become very familiar and comfortable with one another. The next factor Wallace discusses is common ground. Part of Jessie and James' attraction to one another is their shared beliefs. They both live in southern Virginia, they are both very conservative and both value family. These shared beliefs probably helped them initiate conversations with one another and kept their conversations flowing smoothly. Lastly, Wallace describes the internets disinhibition effects. Similar to the Hypersonal process, individuals are more likely to self-disclose online in a shorter time period than they are in FtF conversations. As McKenna stated, the internet is a great medium for the "removal of gating features". Although James is very shy in FtF conversations, he feels much more comfortable to be himself and self-disclose online once these "gates" have been removed.

Stalking Our Way to Best Friends

2007-11-26T22:30:00.001-05:00

Thinking back to the way I met my freshman year roommate – who turned out to be one of my best friends and my roommate again this year – I can distinctly remember leaving virtuality and meeting her in person for the first time. My best friend from summer camp had told me that Melissa and I just had to be roommates at Cornell, and, seeing as this was my best friend speaking, I knew she’d be right. Though Melissa and I at first interacted via CMC only, we ultimately met in person and grew closer by the day. Using the Uncertainty Reduction Theory (Berger & Calabrese, 1976) to explain our growing fondness for one another, I will explain how leaving virtuality was, for us, a great success.

According to URT, the uncertainty reduction process leads to affinity or attraction. At first, all I knew about my roommate from our mutual friend was her name, where she was from and some people she knew. Next, I stalked her a little. We became Facebook friends and I checked out her interests, music tastes and pictures. I asked my friend to tell me as much as she could about my roomie-to-be, and ultimately, we started talking online regularly. I liked her more each time we spoke and I found us to be more similar to one another, and anticipated meeting her in person as I knew we were bound to have a fantastic freshman year together.

Finally, on the way up to visit Cornell for a weekend in the spring of our senior year of high school, Melissa and I met. We were right in all we had thought about one another and continued to discover similarities between us all weekend. From that point on, both our CMC and FtF interactions increased. We kept in touch and made plans, and by the time we got to school we were already great friends.

As the Uncertainty Reduction Theory says, leaving virtuality was highly positive for Melissa and I. We had developed an in-depth relationship via the CMC media and successfully moved it to the real world. The more we knew about one another, the more we wanted to know and the more we spent time with each other. Thus, the theory was correct in assuming that the process of reducing uncertainty is beneficial both online and off!

11. We kind of know eachother. Right?

2007-11-26T18:05:00.000-05:00

Before freshman year, I met my college roommate online. A common friend of ours thought we would get along and our friendship began over instant-messenger. During high-school, we had been over this common friend’s house at the same time at a party and another time to play poker, but we had never introduced ourselves or really knew each other at all. Thus, our online conversations were the first conversations we had, even though we had a vague idea of who each other was. The first things we talked upon were based on common ground such as sports interests and common friends, but the theory that best describes how our friendship left virtuality (from the online-realm to the real-world) is SIDE theory.

SIDE theory takes into consideration two main factors: whether the person is anonymous and whether the person identifies as an individual or a group member. Online, when talking about common ground interests (one of McKenna’s factors) such as sports, we identified as individuals because for example, even though we both love baseball, he was a Mets fan and I was a Yankees fan, so we both held our individual identities. Using this example, I liked him because we both liked baseball, but less so that he did not root for the Yankees as I did. The first time we met to hang out together in person was at a party that a Cornell freshman hosted for other incoming Cornell freshman. The situation obviously brought to the forefront hat we had a lot in common with regards to our new in-group as Cornell students. We met new friends who were also attending Cornell, and talked about things that we both knew about the school.

So, we were not visually anonymous, and we shared a group identity when we met in person, while online we were visually anonymous and held individual identity. And, in fact, we liked each other more after our initial offline meeting. This is consistent with SIDE in the sense that we departed from our individual identities online and our in-group identities became more salient offline. This was likely due to the fact that we went to a party with all future Cornell students and that we expected positive responses from in-group topics such as discussion about the dorm rooms and sports teams. So, we had a positive impression of each other online, but liked each other even more offline, thus showing that our attraction as friends increased as we left virtuality.

Comm 245 Blue: 11- So I guess I'm your roommate....
Comm 245 Blue: Assignment 11: Coming to College

11-Meeting my best friend online...

2007-11-26T17:02:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, I tried out for and made a soccer team that played international competition in Israel. The team was made up of girls from across the country, and most of us had never met before. A few weeks before the team got together, we were provided with each other's emails. Immediately we all began getting to know one another since we were going to be doing everything with each other for the month that we were going to be traveling together. Over those few weeks, I became close with many of the girls, solely by our Instant Messenger conversations. However, there was one girl that I developed a really close friendship with even before we had ever met. She is still one of my best friend's today.

I believe that this opposes the Ramirez and Wang study for many reasons. First, our entire friendship was based on the fact that we both knew we would be meeting each other within the next few weeks. This is different from many of the studies on CMC v. FtF relationships since most of those develop out of two strangers meeting online, and having the ability to meet in real life but it not necessarily happening. This was not the case for me, so with both of us already expecting to meet each other, we were very truthful and open about what we chose to speak about. Our eventual meeting and subsequent continued friendship was even better than it was in CMC rather than Ramirez and Wang's theory that our friendship should have suffered in a negative and disappointing way. It has been three years, and we are still extremely close.

Another contradiction to this model is the notion of long term versus short term and how to define these. While my friend and I onyl conversed for a few weeks before we met, our conversations were really enjoyable, in depth and long. Some would look to classify this as a short term association, which would agree with the Ramirez and Wang hypothesis that short term associations in CMC will provide for social information to be evaluated more positively. But, on the other hand, others including myself would consider the interactions long term since not only did we interact a lot within those few weeks, but we also knew that our interaction would continue more long term offline since we would be playing on a team together. This interpretation of the interaction means that my situation conflicts with the Ramirez and Wang study since they predict that long term associations will provide for social information to be evaluated more negatively. My situation was and still is being evaluated positively.

I would agree with Joseph Walther's Social Information Processing theory in regards to my situation. While my friendship did initially develop online, Ally and I became closer and closer as we finally met and time went on. Our online conversations were extremely interesting, enjoyable, and we did learn a lot about each other, but it was not until we actually met and could experience things together that our friendship solidified. All of our initial online perceptions of each other eventually faded and were either confirmed or simply replaced with other feelings. I would not per se say that my impressions of Ally were "negative" online, but since we learned so much about one another in such a short amount of time, I hardly expected that we could have become closer. I expected that our friendship would dwindle, and the hyperpersonal model would take effect in that our extremely close friendship would start to perish as we actually met. However, I was wrong and to this day, Ally and I still remain best friends. This is why I think that the SIP model fits our relationship the best. While it does not necessarily show a contradiction between my online relationship and my offline relationship, it does show an online to offline success story!

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/11-so-i-guess-im-your-roommate.html
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/11-this-is-embarrassing.html

11 - Leaving virtuality, a relationship story

2007-11-26T15:38:00.000-05:00

One of my closest friendships began several years ago on a Buffalo Sabres forum. While I was aware of my friend's existence within this space before we started talking, it wasn't until we both found out (in a thread unrelated to the Sabres, actually) that we were attending the same college at that time (he as an undergrad, me as a high school senior taking classes), and were in fact taking the same class (at different times in the day, however). After this, we exchanged our AIM information and frequently chatted online. Given the fact that we lived very close to each other, we decided to meet up one day at the college. This was several months after we first began conversing on CMC. Since then, we frequently correspond with each other both on and off line, and we have a very close relationship.

This experience goes against Ramirez & Wang's study which states that meeting a person face-to-face with whom you've been communicating via CMC leads to an enhancement effect, and that this effect results in disappointment and a negative overall effect. The study also concludes that time is an important factor and that short-term associations that leave virtuality will experience more positive effects. As for long-term associations, the effect will be more negative. As I mentioned, my friend and I are still extremely close and get along very well. My impression of him did not suffer a negative effect, despite the fact that our relationship could be considered a long-term association according to the Ramirez & Wang study.

The theory that most supports my online-offline relationship is Berger and Calabrese's Uncertainty Reduction Theory which suggests that more information about a person online will lead to more liking and intimacy in the relationship. The overall effect of leaving virtuality also tends to be positive. As my friend and I conversed online, we found more in common with one another, and we often had long, enjoyable conversations. When the relationship moved offline, our impressions of one another did not change, nor did our interactions.

In addition to this theory, however, I do believe things like McKenna's attraction factors also come into play. For example, my friend and I were drawn to each other because we had common interests--the Sabres and the college we were attending. Also, the fact that we could identify ourselves as members of two distinct groups (both of which we would consider in-groups) suggests that our relationship supports the SIDE theory. SIDE predicts that when moving from individuality into an in-group, the interaction tends to be more positive. This was true for our initial meeting, and was further backed up by the fact that we both decided to first meet each other face-to-face at the location of one of our groups (the college).

11 Friends through Facebook

2007-11-26T00:49:00.000-05:00

I met a friend through Facebook over summer before attending Cornell as a freshman. Online he struck me as a confident person who prefers excessively orderly and regulated interactions. I made this assessment mainly because he uses proper capitalization and punctuation more often than people normally would on informal communication spaces like IM and Facebook. Through his Facebook profile, I discovered that he and I were both members of the incoming class of 2009 at Cornell, and we were both attempting to major in computer science. This lead me to believe that he and I had a lot in common we could talk about.

We then met by chance when we both enrolled in the same chemistry lab time slot during our first semester. I learned that he was much more easygoing and casual than I had initially suspected. Furthermore, he seemed to stand out as a smart kid even among Cornell students, and he did share my enthusiasm for all things computer science. Needless to say we became good friends soon thereafter.

This relationship is most consistent with the hyperpersonal model. The hyperpersonal model predicts that expectation violation caused by the CMC-to-FtF switch will cause the initial impression valence to switch. That is, a negative CMC impression will become positive when exaggerated negative impressions are downsized in FtF, and a positive CMC impression will become negative as the person cannot live up to the exaggerated impressions in FtF. In my case, I formed a negative impression on CMC (excessive orderliness). This impression was outright rejected when I got to know him in FtF. As predicted by the hyperpersonal model, my impression of him became positive once I realized his negative trait was almost non-existant.

My experience also directly contradicts SIDE. My friend was part of the same group as I was (Cornell, freshman, computer science), and yet this similarity did not destroy our friendship in FtF. The timing of the switch from CMC to FtF might explain this. Since we were new to college life, it feels more important than usual to reach out to your peers for friendship and support. This is especially true if such peers share your intended major. Had my friendship with this person left virtuality later in my college career, I would not have valued our similarities as much. Then perhaps the SIDE prediction would manifest: individual differences would cause a negative outcome for leaving virtuality.

The period of CMC interaction before leaving virtuality was about 2-3 weeks. This is closer to the “short-term association” category used in the Ramirez & Wang study. Ramirez & Wang predicted that a short-term association would lead to a more positive evaluation and a greater reduction in uncertainty when leaving virtuality. My impression did become more positive and uncertainty was reduced when I met my friend FtF for the first time, so my experience supports the conclusion reached by Ramirez & Wang.

Comment 1
Comment 2

11: from online to a new house

2007-11-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

A relationship which first formed online and then moved to face to face interactions is my distant cousin and his wife. It all happened on match.com. My cousin at the time was already in a marriage, and he was sneaking this “online affair” on the side. Once he realized that he had fallen in love with this new woman, and out of love with his current wife, he asked for a divorce, and went to meet up with the new love. Our family was shocked and appalled that anyone we knew would do such a cruel thing to another human being, let alone a partner in which they had had two children together. From what I can tell, my cousin and his new wife are very, very happy. They have a great life together and seem to enjoy each other’s company immensely. This shows that moving the relationship from computer mediated communication to face to face interaction allowed the relationship to move to the next level. Clearly intimacy and social interaction online were not problems for my cousin and his love. The article by Ramirez and Wang talked about face to face interactions being made better in “early” stages but more strongly negatively effected in the “late switching”. There seemed to be nothing negative about Bill and Carol’s switch from online to face to face interactions. It has been five or six years now and this happy couple remain in good spirits and company. Our family is shocked that this relationship has lasted, but I guess we are happy for my cousin and his new wife. However, our heart goes out to his first wife, who clearly never saw this “online affair” coming until it was too late. But as scaring as this is for her, it must be a tiny-bit reassuring to know that her ex-husband found “true love” online and not just a little fling that didn’t last for long. This relationship supports the Social Information Processing Theory which talks about time and adaptation as the key elements. This theory says that with enough time, impressions over CMC can be as strong as Ftf interaction. With enough time, Bill and Carol formed very lasting impressions which caused sparks to fly and a deep love to form.

Hayleigh Hotshot Meets Second Life

2007-11-15T00:05:00.001-05:00

For the tenth assignment, I chose to experience Second Life for the first time. Yee and Bailenson performed a study on the Proteus effect: the effect of transformed self-representation on behavior. Their main assertion is that our self representations are a significant and instantaneous impact on our behavior. Specifically, they claim that the appearances of our avatars shape how we interact with others. Keeping Yee and Bailenson’s studies in mind, I strategically constructed Hayleigh Hotshot to give me credible grounds for analyzing her appearance’s effect on my behavior on Second Life.

I purposely made Hayleigh Hotshot noticeably attractive with desirable attributes. At the same time, I tried to make her somewhat similar to me in real life so I could observe any differences with my behavior on Second Life and my behavior in real life. At first, when I was going through the tutorial, I was a bit frustrated because I didn’t understand what I had to do and I didn’t get a chance to interact with anyone. Soon enough I found that once I was off the initial island, there was never a dull moment in my Second Life experience.

Now it may be that I was more confident than I normally would have been in real life because, looking at my avatar, I felt ‘pretty’ and I guess the other people behind the avatars surrounding me caught on to that spunky confidence right away. Through one of their studies, Yee and Bailenson observed that participants who had more attractive avatars exhibited increased self-disclosure and were more willing to approach opposite-gendered strangers. My experience was consistent with this observation. In real life, I am usually shy when I interact with the opposite sex and it takes a long time before I am willing to open up to others. It was somewhat a surprise to me that when I went on Second Life as Hayleigh Hotshot, I immediately acted more attractively. From my experience in high school and college, I assumed that girls who were approachable and bubbly generally appealed to the opposite sex. Therefore, when others approached me in Second Life, I was very open and honest, disclosing personal interests that I never would have in real life.

Another factor that affected my behavior was the fact that I am 4’11 in real life, but I made my avatar 5’4. Oddly enough, those extra five inches did quite a bit to boost my confidence. Yee and Bailenson observed in another simulation that taller avatars were more confident in negotiation-oriented situations. In a way, I was more confident and took on the attitude of feeling like I was entitled to special treatment and a greater amount of respect from others just because I was taller. I definitely noticed that I got more attention from avatars of the opposite sex than female avatars that were shorter than me. I was also a lot more confident than the shorter female avatars.

In conclusion, Yee and Bailenson’s simulations surprisingly lined up with my experiences on Second Life. I was surprised because when I read the article I thought it was ridiculous to think that the appearance of an avatar could influence one’s interaction with others in an online environment. The Second Life and Yee and Bailenson’s studies opened my eyes and made me aware of the reality of online environments and the effects of self-representation on individual behavior, self-disclosure and inclination to interact with the opposite sex.

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-10-not-my-second-life.html

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/10-free-warcraft-for-ex-cons.html

Assignment 10: Feared and Revered

2007-11-13T09:47:00.001-05:00

I decided to play the MMORPG, City of Heroes, where the game space is fashioned like a metropolis that you would find in the comic books. The purpose of the game is to join forces with other heroes to defeat various villains throughout the game. Over time, with the completion of missions, you will level up which advances your superpowers. The central location is the courthouse where the other superhero characters congregate to meet each other. Sometimes people are sitting there trying to find other people to play with, other times you can find people just socializing or dancing with themselves. At a certain time of day, you can even find the avatars engaging in a costume contest. The superheroes ranged from figments of peoples’ imaginations to archetypes of famous superheroes, such as Superman and Wonderwomen.

Upon starting the game, you must start your own superhero. I decided to be a vampire, who decided to turn into a Superhero—similar to a female Blade. I tried to make her look like a Vampire through giving her gray skin, red eyes, and dressing her in bad-ass gothic clothing; she wore tight black leather pants, tall boots, and a shirt with lots of straps all over it. Also, I tired to make her superpowers match her character; I gave her the power of dark melee, because vampires often have super-strength and they are magical creatures, and I gave her the super-jump power because over time she would learn how to fly, another aspect characteristic of vampires. Since I did not feel like finding a team, I asked my friend to play with me. He made himself into a Juggernaut-type character and off into the game we went.

When I entered the game, I felt more like a villain than a superhero. My costume was dark and dreary and Paragon City was a bright place filled with colorful people. I instantly felt the effects of behavioral confirmation. Behavioral confirmation is “the process whereby the expectation of one person case another person to behave in ways that confirm the perceiver’s expectations.” The majority of the characters did not approach me, I am assuming because of my evil appearance; which in turn, lead me to be more antisocial. My partner and I stayed away from the populated areas and I just assumed my role as the aloof evil character. Only some of the other malevolent characters would shout random comments. It became apparent at that point that there were certain group norms for this psychological space. The stereotype was that the dark or evil looking heroes were solemn, unfriendly, completely unapproachable, and were often rude. You could tell the difference in the characters by looking around the courthouse. The “dark” heroes were often somberly grouped together and they showcased their powerful dark magic; whereas the other “typical” heroes were socializing and dancing. As I tested the waters, I found that it was easy to be initiated into the typical hero group—you just had to be friendly.

But I did not want to be part of the typical heroes, I wanted to be a dark hero, feared and revered. My reason for this desire is the fact that I was trying to portray a vampire, how would anyone ever believe I was a vampire if I was prancing around and smiling like a nymph. Therefore, I changed my behavior to mimic that of the dark group: I did not dance, smile, or laugh and I kept my conversations short and quick. My next step into being accepted was leveling up my dark magic powers, so I could be recognized. In this case, it is difficult to discern whether my behavior followed SIDE theory or the Proteus Effect. SIDE theory argues that “factors that lead to deindividuation, such as anonymity, might thus reinforce group salience and conformity to group norms,” whereas Proteus effect emphasizes “conformity to individual identity cues.” Although I was conforming to the local group norms of the “dark” heroes (SIDE theory), the behaviors that I decided to replicate were based on my vampire avatar (Proteus Effect).

Assignment 10 - Not my Second Life

2007-11-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

In Yee and Bailenson's article "The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior (2007)," a pair of studies were conducted during which individuals were assigned an avatar that was either attractive or unattractive and made to interact in a collaborative virtual environment. Each user is aware of only "their" version of the digital rendering; in other words, the target may perceive their avatar as attractive, whereas a perceiver sees the target as unattractive. This was done to minimize the possibility of behavioral confirmation (in this case, mutual perception of attractiveness and both target and perceiver responding accordingly).

The basis of the Proteus Effect is the expectation that individuals will conform to the behavior that others expect them to have based on the stereotyped identity of their avatars. Yee and Bailenson put forth three hypotheses:

1st Study

-Interpersonal distance - according to Burgoon's (1978) nonverbal expectancy theory, when attractive individuals violate 'nonverbal expectancies' (e.g. moving into someone's personal space), "the positive valence that is created can be socially advantageous." Assuming attractive individuals are more confident, they would more readily approach others and stand in closer proximity than individuals perceiving themselves as unattractive.

-Self-disclosure - because attractive individuals are more likely to be extroverted and more friendly, they would be exhibit higher self-disclosure and volunteer more information about themselves overall.

2nd Study

- According to literature on attractiveness, taller people are perceived to be more competent, more desirable romantic partners, and possess leadership qualities. The third hypothesis assumes that individuals with avatars in the tall condition would behave in a more confident manner.

To test these hypotheses, I entered the game Second Life, a 3-D virtual world that is almost entirely user-built and populated by millions of individual players. Since there is no specific goal or purpose of the game aside from exploration and interaction with others, I figured it would be the ideal space.

I created my avatar to be very stereotypically attractive and completely unrelated to my actual appearance: blond hair, blue eyes, slender and relatively tall. Once I found a decently populated area (it didn't take long), in most cases, I didn't even have to initiate conversation since other users approached me almost immediately. According to Yee and Bailenson's first hypothesis, I would be more likely to stand closer to those I interacted with. I definitely stood closer to other people than I ever would face-to-face, however, I would say that this has less to do with the attractiveness of my avatar and more to do with the fact that a) the controls were slightly awkward, and b) there were so many players in this particular area that my avatar kept getting "bumped" in one direction or the other, so the closeness was usually unintentional.

In terms of self-disclosure, I am not prone to divulging information about myself to strangers online or offline, so no increase in this area occurred. With regards to height, I doubt this can be accurately assessed given that the point of the game is to approach others and communicate and, in my case, others more readily approached me. Any increase in confidence can be attributed to the fact that this was conducted in an online environment, and various other theories predict a higher degree of extroversion and self-disclosure based on the relative anonymity inherent to most online spaces (Joinson 2001). What's also notable is the fact that I was able to choose my avatar, customize it down to the finest detail, and was perfectly aware of how it appeared to others whereas the individuals involved in the Yee and Bailenson study were pre-assigned avatars. In short, these theories seem to apply situationally and seem to be a better predictor of the behavior of others (note how readily others approached my avatar - this may be due to attractiveness on some level). Either way, there are too many variables involved in this case to be able to support or negate what the studies proposed.

Comment one
Comment two

10 Free Warcraft for Ex-Cons

2007-11-13T08:58:00.000-05:00

The US currently has 2.2 million prisoners at any given time, more than any other country in the world. And according to the USDOJ, 67.5% of released criminals are rearrested for felonies within the next three years. After subtracting out the 128,000 inmates currently serving life sentences, we are looking at approximately 1.47 million of those 2.2 million being rearrested within the next three years.

Now, we know that the cost of the federal government housing a prisoner comes out to $23476.80 per year. So here is my brilliant plan to reduce recidivism rates and save the taxpayers money: whenever a career criminal is released back into society, give them a copy of World of Warcraft and a free 1 year subscription. This works out to around $160 per person, but I'm sure the government could swing a pretty good volume discount. At this rate, the cost of housing one prisoner for a year works out to around 150 WoW subscriptions.

Simple math tells us that if we could reduce recidivism by just 1%, we could save the taxpayers a huge amount of money, not to mention reduce the level of violent crime in society. And when you consider the average WoW player logs almost eight hours a day, this seems like a very real possibility.

Of course you might say, "But Alex, won't giving career criminals an addictive video game prevent them from getting real jobs?" Yes! But don't forget that the career of a career criminal is committing crime, so this is exactly the idea.

The paper by Yee & Balenson suggests that by tweaking the appearance of the avatar, we can alter the way in which the user behaves. Although further testing is needed, this result suggests that we could potentially rehabilitate criminals by encouraging prosocial behavior online. The authors also talk about SIDE theory in this context. Perhaps by giving prisoners a positive social identity and deindividuating them, we could train them in good behavior. The authors do note precedence for this, saying that people in a dark room were more likely to engage in acts of physical affection, showing that deindividuation can lead to good behavior as well as bad.

As Raph Koster says, "Glory is the reason why people play online; shame is what keeps them from playing online. Neither is possible without other people being present." Perhaps by creating a compelling online experience for former criminals we can subconsciously rehabilitate them, or at the very least keep them in front of the computer. After all, better to have them killing dragons in real game than raping little kids in real life.

While it is only a small part of the picture, I believe that Yee & Bailenson provide an excellent framework for creating a prosocial experience through both their work on Proteus theory and also their new results using the existing SIDE model.

Utopia Redux

2007-11-13T07:48:00.000-05:00

Last week I wrote about the addictive properties of Swirve.com's online multiplayer text-based game, Utopia, and how it had monopolized my life as a kid. But writing about it piqued my interest and, on a lark, I signed up for a new account. ("I'll just see what's changed and what's the same," I told myself. "I'm sure it won't be addictive anymore.")

It still is. My "province," which I named Ken-etic Energy, has doubled in size under my frequent and devoted attention (from 400 to 800 acres). My population of Humans has already grown to support: a strong network of thieves, who have already managed to save peasant lives by robbing other provinces of food and supplanting my Farms with it; a (weaker) network of wizards, who usually blow themselves up trying to cast spells but sometimes succeed nonetheless; and a powerful cabal of Knights and Archers who defend my province against enemy attack. I'm the gallant ruler: Lord Ezra the Wealthy. As a Human, my province isn't great at magic but has a knack for Science; as a Merchant, I get extra income that I can use to pay for soldier training and the exploration of new lands. All together, this makes me, Ken Colwell, a huge dork who will probably not allow this blog post to be posted beyond December.

So I play in a kingdom of Orcs, Dark Elves, and the occasional Gnome besides my fellow humans. Does it change how I interact with them that I chose this Human, Merchant persona? I don't think so--I am a sensibly-minded Human. I almost wish I'd picked an Orc or a Dark Elf province so I could be a little more evil. The other day, I almost wrote a random, archaically-worded message to a random province, just to test for a reaction, but then I thought--would a Human Merchant say that? No way. That would ruin the game. Honestly, the game hasn't been social enough for me to say if Behavioral Confirmation could be working here: whose beliefs would I be confirming? I think my kingdommates are still waiting to see if I'm going to man up and log in for the long haul. As for SIDE, the only way I can identify with my kingdom is if a friend gets attacked and I help him fight back, but I'm not powerful enough to do that. (I do, however, get uncharacteristically upset when that happens. Am I identifying with the group?) And the Proteus Effect is hard to search for when Utopia doesn't even give me a graphical avatar. All I've got are the words Human, Merchant, and Ezra. But soon those words will be known throughout all cyberspace. Maybe fame will affect how I act.

By the way--honestly, this post is a little tardy, but that's only because we're gearing up for War with a kingdom on another island. I need to stay focused. If I don't get my Soldiers trained into Specialists, I won't stand a chance, and my Thieves stand ready to rob the vaults of an unsuspecting province with full coffers. Please try not to disturb me for the next couple weeks.

Assignment 10: Second Life as a Rodent is Never Easy

2007-11-13T06:09:00.000-05:00

Description
As a newbie on Second Life, I accidentally chose to be a short female raccoon, thinking that it would be cute to be a rodent. I entered a popular space called “Best Skin, Clothes, Shape” and found that I was one of the most unattractive virtual beings. I walked up to a group of “fashionable” people sitting around a table smoking and tried joining the conversation but once they saw that I was a raccoon they stopped interacting with me. I then tried making my raccoon-self sexy by making my skirt tighter and exposing more fur but that only made the people around the table actually get up and move away from me. For the rest of the hour I sat alone, talking and gesturing to myself.

Analysis
Second Life is a 3-D virtual game in which users interact with each other through motional avatars (digital representation of themselves), which they can choose and customize. It is one of the many virtual environments that increasingly allow users to alter their avatars dramatically and without much effort. According to the Proteus Effect, an individual’s behavior conforms to their avatar choice independent of how others perceive them. Or more precisely, they will conform to the behavior that they believe others would expect them to have (ex. stereotypes). To study the effects of the Proteus Effect, Yee & Bailenson conducted a study in which they tested three hypotheses by focusing on the following measures.

1. Interpersonal distance- According to nonverbal expectancy violations theory, when attractive individuals move too close to someone, the positive valence that is created can be socially advantageous. Therefore, users with attractive avatars will walk closer to the counterpart than those with unattractive avatars.

2. Self-disclosure- Attractive individuals tend to be more extraverted and friendlier. Therefore, users with attractive avatars would exhibit higher self-disclosure and present more pieces of information about themselves than participants with unattractive avatars.

3: Taller people are perceived to be more competent. Therefore, users with taller aviators would behave in a more confident manner and negotiate more aggressively than those with shorter avatars.

Based on my experience playing Second Life, I found that the altered self-representation did have an effect on behavior. As for the first measure, interpersonal distance, I found myself keeping away from other players, especially males, because I knew that my avatar was unattractive. My unattractive avatar also decreased self-disclosure, preventing me from becoming intimate. The most I shared was when another player asked where I was from. As for the third measure, height, although I was not in a situation in which I was negotiating with another user, the shortness of my avatar did impact my overall confidence. For example, after the other players moved away, I assumed that it was because of me and was not willing to approach other players.

One significance difference between my experience and Yee & Bailenson’s study is the crucial role of behavioral confirmation (expectations of the perceiver cause the target to behave in ways that confirm the perceiver’s expectations). My self-perception caused me behave differently but because others also expected me and therefore treated me as an unattractive virtual being, I kept my distance even more and was even more unwilling to self-disclose. With both the Proteus Effect and behavior confirmation playing a role, I found m experience as a rodent in Second Life lonely and difficult.

Comment 1
Comm 245 Blue: 10. EarlMonroe in Second Life

Comment 2
Comm 245 Blue: #10: Too Fat for Friends

Assignment 10: Call of Duty 4

2007-11-13T02:58:00.000-05:00

For this post, I decided to use the game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a recently released first person shooter for various gaming systems (I played it on Windows.) The premise of the game is “realistic” modern combat, played out in a tense single player campaign or in a multiplayer environment. The game’s multiplayer aspect had several types of game play. For this post, I chose to experiment with three of them: Sabotage, Domination, and Team Death Match. One drawback of the game with respect to the post was that avatars were not individually chosen; a player chooses a side and a weapons kit, and assigned a player model based on the two choices. This lead me to wonder if the selection of side would affect the ability of the team to function. Would a player’s self perception of their avatar (either a United States Marine/British SAS agent or non-descript Middle Eastern Soldier/Russian Spetsnaz operative) prime them to behave in a certain way? The US/UK soldiers appeared better equipped and perhaps a little more professional than the model for the other two factions.

My first game was with the Sabotage game type. In this game, each team attempts to carry a bomb to the other team’s weapons cache, and defend the device until it detonates. I chose this mode because it requires teamwork to accomplish the goal. I first noticed that there was a heavy number imbalance in players, favoring the US side. This is not uncommon to see in online games, especially when playing on servers based in the US. For this game, the “Op For” (as they’re called in the game, probably to not offend any single country; instead opting to slightly agitate them all at once) team lacked teamwork to overcome the enemy. We were almost immediately surrounded and picked off, giving the other team complete control over our cache.

The second game used the Domination rule set. In this style, there are three flags placed around the map. A team accumulates points based on how many flags they are holding at any given moment. They also serve as spawn points for the team’s players. I played on the Russian Spetsnaz side, facing the British SAS. The sides seemed evenly matched, and both sides used a fair amount of team work. Once again my team lost, but it was by no means a lost cause for the Russians. This game seemed to contradict the first in terms of whether team selection affected teamwork.

The third game involved the much faster paced Team Death Match. Once again I was put on the “Op For” side due to a numbers imbalance, but it was not nearly as bad as the first game. One thing I noticed while player was although the combat was extremely chaotic, whenever I checked the UAV screen (essentially a screen that shows you where all players are) clear territories were present at all times. There was a definite “front line” apparent whenever I checked the screen, around every 10 seconds during the match. The territories shifted quickly, but any soldier that got too far into enemy territory was quickly shot down and forced to re-spawn on his side. No apparent difference in teamwork between the two sides was revealed by this match.

In retrospect, three games was not nearly enough experience to be able to make a judgment on whether team selection affected a player’s self-perception of their avatar, and thus of themselves in game. In Yee/Baileson’s 2007 study, they found that height and attractiveness of an online avatar increased that player’s aggressiveness and level of self-disclosure/comfort with strangers, respectively. This effect, known as the Proteus Effect, was not apparent in my limited experience with this game. The inability to change one’s individual avatar probably had an effect on the apparent lack of effect. All models were relatively of the same height, and of the same general facial features and shapes. Instead what seemed to predict dominance was weapon choice and numerical superiority/inferiority. When a team I played on was badly outnumbered, they tended to withdraw and allow the other team to dictate the areas of conflict on the map. When people chose weapons with shorter range, they showed much more aggressiveness in getting closer to an enemy soldier than one who chose a longer range weapon. Both of these observations most likely had more to do with game mechanics than the Proteus Effect or behavioral confirmation.

10. EarlMonroe in Second Life

2007-11-13T02:44:00.000-05:00

I entered the online-space of Second Life, for the first time. Recalling Dwight Schrute’s decision, to make his Second Life character an exact replica of himself down to his job as a paper salesman (in the TV show, “The Office”), I decided to go in a different direction, and make my character look nothing like myself in real life. I thought this would make my Second Life experience feel more like an actual second life, but at first I felt more confused than anything else.

Second Life is a world online between gamers who create and interact with each other using self-created avatars. This online game sparks interesting social behavior online, and is becoming an interesting area of topic in the social psychology of the internet.

As for being confused, at first when signing up I had my first name starting with a lowercase letter, until a message popped up asking me if I was sure I wanted to do that. This made me step back and realize I should be careful about my name choice, as it would be another aspect of my online persona to be judged upon. I went with EarlMonroe and built off the boy-next door avatar. I figured some people would recognize me as a basketball fan because my name was intended to identify me as a fan of Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, however nobody made any such comments. So, it was a seemingly convincing that EarlMonroe was my real name.

Next, I felt I needed to explore a Second Life dance-party that people have been telling about in real-life. I ended up in one long conversation with a female avatar that approached me. When the character approached me, I did feel satisfied that I created a character someone wanted to approach, and I became so engaged in the conversation that I did not really think about starting conversations with any other gamers.

With regard to Yee and Bailenson’s (2007) paper, I did notice some aspects of the “Proteus Effect”, even after about a 30 minute conversation with one other character. The Proteus Effect applies to the online-world because it suggests that the strongest indicator of how people will act in the online-world is the avatar that that person creates for him or herself. My character was tall, distinct, and good-looking. I almost immediately revealed to my counterpart that I was new to the game. My decision to reveal I was new to the game is consistent with Yee and Bailenson’s assessment that attractive players would be more likely to disclose personal information. In this regard, I agreed with the paper.

However, I am unsure about the paper’s statement that tall players are more confident, as the female character I conversed with was short, but very confident. She was confident enough to approach a male character, when it appeared the dance-party consisted mostly of men seeking out females. My character was tall, but I am not sure I felt more confident because of my height. My character was tall, distinct, and good-looking, but these attributes only contributed to my self-confidence one the female took notice of them. I took the invitation to a conversation to be an assessment of my avatar’s likeable and attractive appearance. I was not sure I had the confidence to approach other’s until after this first conversation in which the female approached my character.

Essentially my study mirrored similar results to Yee and Bailenson’s with regard to the Proteus Effect. I am unsure that being tall made me act more dominant, but I was tall and I ended up being confident. My avatar was attractive, according to at least one outside source, and I do think this helped me self-disclose more, because I was under the impression someone was interested in what I had to say and was looking simply for conversation. This is consistent with SIP that would say over-time people can get to know each other quite well in cmc interactions. Further, my personality online was not necessarily how I act in real-life, but I did not intend for my avatar to be an exact replica of myself in the first place. My actions online however did appear to be a result of some of the characteristics and “skins” I chose to assume in my avatar. Lastly, a limitation of my study is that I only spent one hour on the Second Life in which I was engaged in only one conversation that lasted for more than 20 minutes. Nonetheless, I feel Yee and Bailenson’s study, especially when looked at with ideas such as Problematic Internet Use in mind, is very applicable to online-worlds such as Second Life.

Comments:
Comm 245 Blue: Assignment 10: Feared and Revered
Comm 245 Blue: Shawty is a 10

10 Confidence on Second Life

2007-11-13T02:33:00.000-05:00

I chose to play in the virtual world Second Life for this assignment. Second Life is a 3D virtual environment where players can interact, socialize, and participate in group activities. When I registered for an account, I was asked to pick a name and avatar to represent myself in the metaverse. I selected the male “nightclub” avatar. Once in-game I proceeded to fine-tune my appearance such that I appeared taller and huskier, with black hair and clothes. (Second Life has HUGE set of options for configuring your character’s appearance down to the finest detail, by the way. This is the greatest level of avatar configurability I’ve ever seen.) I was going for a confident, “don’t-mess-with-me” type of look – perhaps to the point of being intimidating. Never mind that in real life I look nothing like this (well, except for the black hair).

It was fairly easy for me to socialize with various people in the vicinity, and I would say at least part of this ease can be attributed to the outward appearance of my character. Being a “nightclub” guy meant it wouldn’t look at all unusual if I were a total chatterbox looking for someone to talk to. This observation agrees with the findings by Yee & Bailenson. Specifically, I have exhibited the Proteus effect – behaving in a manner which reinforces how I appear to others. However, many times I initiated conversation by asking newbie questions about the game (how to pick up a torch, where can I find this in my inventory, how I can I find events, etc). This basically meant that I was on the receiving end of a lot of help and information. Consequently I was not in a position to exhibit any sort of overly confident behavior that my avatar’s appearance would suggest. This aspect of my behavior contrasts with the theory set forth by Yee & Bailenson. The Proteus effect considers only your digital self-representation, not how others perceive you based on that representation. Based on that hypothesis, I should behave confidently no matter what I am doing. However, in this case situational forces have taken precedence in my online self-presentation.

My avatar was fairly attractive looking, which leads to two predictions about my behavior from the Yee & Baileson paper. First, I would be more likely to walk closer to individuals I socialized with (close interpersonal distance). This was definitely true; I often went right in front of people when I was talking to them. It was not a distance that would be socially comfortable in real life. Second, the paper predicted I would have exhibited higher self-discloser. This was not actually the case for me because I specifically intended on remaining anonymous. Thus I was keen on keeping discussion to various aspects of the game and random small talk. Lastly, the height of my avatar would lead Yee and Baileson to predict that I would behave in a more confident manner. As described above, situational forces precluded this behavior from occurring.

Comment 1
Comment 2

10: The Proteus Effect: A Bunch of Baloney??

2007-11-13T01:49:00.000-05:00

EverQuest - a game of adventure, of excitement, of challenge, of fighting, of victory, of passion, and for some, even of love. To the strong few, EverQuest is not a game, but is a way of life. Thus I thought that creating the avatar "Sumiya", a female Siberian Tiger (like the one so cherished by Sigfried and Roy above) in humanoid form (a tiger with Gisele Bündchen's body), would allow me to have some pretty fierce girlpower on the MMORPG. After playing for an entire hour, however, I found that this was not to be so for a n00b such as I. I was so bogged down by the intricacies and manuverings of the game as a first-time player, that I found little time to unleash the Catwoman that was clawing inside of me.

Yee & Bailenson (2007) describe the Proteus Effect as an individual’s behavior conforming
to their digital self-representation independent of how others perceive them. An avatar that one creates in an online environment composes our entire self-representation in that setting. Users of an MMORPG like EverQuest conform to the behavior that they believe others would expect their avatar to have. For instance, one would expect a barbarian avatar to be rough and tough, thus the person who has selected the character may act in that manner on the game. The Proteus Effect may seem similar to SIDE, however there is a fundamental difference between the two theories. SIDE predicts that one will act according to group influences, i.e. if you are a wood elf in a guild with other wood elves on EverQuest, you would probably act wise and knowledgable to fit in with your fellow creatures. However, the Proteus Effect predicts that you will act like a wood elf because of your individual identity/chosen avatar, not because of influence from other characters. You'll be pretty slick whether or not your other elf friends are there to help you grow in your mannerisms.

Like any MMORPG, you get the most out of them if you play them at length (how this affects your real life is another story). I felt I was truly held back from experiencing the Proteus Effect because of the many intricacies of the game. In the first hour, my interaction was mostly with NPCs (non-player characters), computerized characters whose duty it was to teach me how to get around the land of Norrath. Sumiya, my avatar, broke out of jail with the help of a NPC barbarian, had her axe fixed by a NPC wood elf, and received armor from a NPC dark elf. There were other "n00bs" in the land of Norrath, but they were scuttering around trying to complete these same tasks in order to gain the ability to do more things in the game. I attempted to commnicate once or twice with a male human avatar to see if Sumiya's feline ferociousness would come out in conversation, or even battle, however I was met with a blank stare. My experience playing EverQuest was slower and not as rich as the time I played WOW for an earlier assignment. Ultimately, Sumiya got lost in a field of spiders trying to collect silk for a dark elf, and found herself stuck in a giant spiderweb, unable to move. My cries of help in the main chat were to no avail, and I ended the game.

Had I not gotten caught in a large 2-D spiderweb, and had I played the game for several more hours, I'm sure my dialogue as a crazy cat would have shown through to my fellow players. This animal avatar had strength points that were quite high (although wisdom points which were quite low), so my winning battles via brute strength I'm sure would have gone to my head. I can imagine a time when my actions did meld with the those expected of a particular avatar. In an earlier assignment, I created a human avatar while playing WOW, and in an attempt to explore communication in this online forum, I played the hapless female who knew nothing about the game, inquring many male avatars about how to progress to the next level. My attempt to exert my femaleness in order to foster communication agreed with the woman avatar that I chose.

I came, I saw, I commented
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/10-too-fat-for-friends.html
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/10-my-second-life-died.html

10: Are you trying to have sex with me?!

2007-11-13T01:25:00.000-05:00

Yes. Someone ACTUALLY asked me that.

As I entered the "Skin, Clothes, and Appearance" room in Second Life, I began to notice lots of naked people surrounding my avatar, Riley Kazyanenko. While I started to feel a little uncomfortable, I slowly realized that I had teleported to the room in which people not only change their appearances but also go to have a little exotic fun. Once I knew what was going on and had played around with my surroundings for a little while, I felt comfortable approaching people. The first avatar that I approached was a man. We started to chat, going over some small talk regarding how we were doing and how long we have been familiar with Second Life. This male character started asking me questions and one of them was about "where he could get some skin?" Of course, I at once thought that he was looking for someone to have cyber-sex with, and so I responded as if I was offended that he would ask such a question. However, I quickly learned that he simply wanted to take off his shirt in order to get a tan, so he wanted to be directed to where he could take his shirt off. Now, this seems innocent enough, but when I told him how to alter his appearance, I was met with the response, "are you trying to have sex with me?". I was shocked! All I did was answer his question! So I said no, and sort of yelled at his avatar for assuming that I was asking for sex.

This is the moment when I realized how different my avatar was from my actual self. One look at my avatar and I can understand why he wondered about my motives. Dressed in acid-washed skin tight jeans with the crack of my behind sticking out for the world to see and a belly shirt accentuating my cleavage, Riley Kazyanenko looked like she just stepped out of a dance club. And this man's inquiry did not make her stop! Soon, we teleported to the Dance Life Suite and met lots of avatars that enjoyed dancing just as much as Riley did. She was not afraid to get out on the dancefloor and go after anyone within twenty feet of her. In this sense, it is clear that the Proteus Effect took place because while I love to dance, Riley was accentuating her attractiveness to the fullest degree! Although I chose my avatar, I picked her features quite randomly, and Riley ended up using her attractiveness to get closer with strange men throughout the entire simulation. Regardless of whether or not Riley sought out the attention of men, her mere appearance made her seem "available" and "approachable" to men. As a result, Riley became a more confident avatar and by the end of our simulation, she was approaching strangers with the assumption that they would automatically be attracted to her sexually enticing character. Behavioral confirmation plays a large role here as Yee and Bailenson describe because other avatar's perceptions of Riley made her in fact behave in those preconceived ways, thus confirming the perceiver's expectations.

In terms of how my avatar affected how I behaved online, I do not believe that Riley's behavior was in any way an expression of my own personality. I was completely aware of what Riley was doing the entire time during the simulation, and I simply reacted to how others perceived her. My control over Riley definitely exhibited the fact that I was having fun with Second Life, a tool that I have never used before and was extremely intrigued by. Its complexities were incredible, and I was simply having a good time taking it all in. With that said, I do understand how the Proteus Effect takes place because I did feel Being a first time user of Second Life, whom will probably never use it again, I was in complete control over what my avatar did, sometimes purposely making her seem more promiscuous because of her appearance. My only problem with the simulation that I performed is that I cannot determine whether I made Riley act in a more sexually explicit way because of the way she looked or whether I unknowningly developed my avatar in a way that was created by how the other avatars perceived her.

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-10-not-my-second-life.html
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/shawty-is-10.html

Shawty is a 10

2007-11-13T01:21:00.001-05:00

The Game Plan: For this assignment, I thought it would be interesting to test drive the graphical game world of "Second Life". Through performing a Google search, I came across the link for "Second Life". To be honest, what drew me in was the slogan "Your world. Your Imagination". In addition, I stumbled upon several YouTube clips and blog posts about this graphical gaming world. Needless to say, I was curious to understand what the fuss was all about.

The Game: Upon entering the virtual "welcome" portion, I was surprised at how similar the graphics were to "The Sims". Although I was not a big "Sims" player, I noticed that the overall design of the avatar was fairly the same. However, what threw me off the most was trying to navigate through this virtual world. I found myself bumping into the mountain and stumbling into other players as I tried to get acquainted with my surroundings. Interestingly enough, I stumbled into another player, who was a little more experienced with using the application. "She" came up to me and greeted me almost instantly. I told "her" that I was new to the whole "Second Life" scene, and I was trying to get familiar with all of the options. "She" politely informed me that I could change the appearance of my avatar by right-clicking. However, my computer and "Second Life" did not seem to get along very well. As I played around with all of the features, my computer would freeze every now and again. Thus, it made exploring the virtual world rather difficult.

The virtual environment was not as impressive as that of "The Sims", but it was creative if anything else. The volcanoes, buildings, and sea added something novel. The scary part though were the flying people everywhere, and the large stiletto heels that almost trampled me on several occasions. I clearly wasn't in the land of the Sims. This is where the tutorials came in handy. As I walked around, I came across tutorials outlining how to do everything from change my appearance to travel through the different lands. I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to change my appearance. It was interesting to see how many different aspects of my appearance I could tinker with. At first, I wanted to make my avatar resemble myself, but that proved to be problematic because I needed to completely revamp what everything. Thus, instead, I just opted to make the avatar as cute and stylish as possible. I asked the "girl" where "she" found "her" cute rugby styled shirt, and "she" proceeded to walk away. It's weird because initially I thought it was really cool of "her" to help me out. However, when "she" walked away, I immediately wrote her off as being "bitchy", even though she didn't give me much reason to think that.
After finalizing a look that I thought was acceptable, I ventured into the realm of "Help Islands". I was overwhelmed by the "real-world" simulation of purchasing things like different modes of transportation and clothing. My favorite part had to be talking with the different avatars around. I found that the male avatars gave off a subtle flirtatious vibe; while the female avatars were similarly interested in talking about their experience with "playing" the game thus far. Almost instantly, I began to draw personality conclusions about the individuals I was talking to based on how they chose to present their avatars and their conversation style.

The Research: After reading the article by Yee and Bailenson, it is readily apparent how my choice of avatar influenced my behavior within the virtual gaming environment. Upon changing the appearance of my avatar, Jade Tuqiri, I was trying to make her "cute". Honestly, in my mind I was trying to go for a Laguna Beach/Newport Harbor look. I made her medium height, skinny, blonde. I also tried to find stylish outfits for her. With respect to my gaming behavior, Yee and Bailenson's notion of the "Proteus Effect" come to mind. In essence, my online gaming behavior was informed by my perception of what those I would interact with would expect. I was very friendly and flirtatious in my interactions with other players in the game. I also modeled my communication style based on who I was speaking with. Thus, with female avatars I was less flirty and more friendly. However, with the male avatars, I asked a lot of probing questions and self-disclosed more.
Extending my analysis, I found that not only did my behavior support Yee and Bailenson's claims, but also that of the other "Second Life" players. Typically, other deemed "attractive" avatars were increasingly more social with other players. They were more likely to simulate conversation, while the less "attractive" avatars interacted more with the actual "gaming" aspect. In addition, I noticed that when I self-disclosed information, the individuals who were most likely to reciprocate were other "attractive" avatars. The less "attractive" avatars were more interested in talking about "Second Life". With respect to the "taller" avatars, I kind of found them to be rather threatening. I was not really too happy with their ability to tower over me, but that did not really discourage me from initiating conversation. I felt that mostly the height was a method of overcompensation and the person on the other side of the computer screen was probably was 5 foot.

Assignment 10: Adventures in my Second Life

2007-11-13T01:21:00.000-05:00

For this assignment I decided to try out the graphical game, Second Life. We have spoken about it so much in class that I figured I should find out what all the hype is about. After about 3 hours of computer problems and download malfunctions, I finally got the game to work. Upon entering the virtual world, I was immediately surprised with how advanced it was. Although it did not look like reality, the environment was still impressive. There were volcanoes, buildings, an ocean, and (as I was definitely surprised to see) flying people all over the place. I proceeded through many of the tutorials, learning how to communicate with others, move about the lands, and change my appearance. This last one proved to be the most intensive for me. I spent almost 20 minutes changing my appearance in order to make the most attractive avatar I could. I was so enthralled, in fact, that I didn’t even notice when another user was asking me a question over and over. When I finally snapped out of my trance, I caught the phrase, “He probably isn’t paying attention because he has spent the last ten minutes changing his appearance”. Needless to say, even though it is a virtual world and I was anonymous, I was still embarrassed.
After making my way through the tutorials and into the “Help Islands”, I was able to purchase different clothes, try out different modes of transportation, and talk to more people. In one location I was asked by a female avatar if I was one of the guides in the game. I told her that I wasn’t and that I was new to the game. She told me that she was too and we spoke about the experience together for a few minutes. I found it very interesting that the other users and I were so comfortable talking to one another even though we didn’t know each other.
After reading Yee and Bailenson, I can definitely see how my choice of avatar affected how I behaved in the game. When I edited the appearance of my avatar, Logan Knoller, I attempted to make him as “good looking” as possible. I made him tall, muscular, and with pleasing facial features. My behavior would accurately be described by the Proteus Effect, in that I found that I conformed to the behavior that I believed others would expect me to have (Yee and Bailenson, 4). I was more confident and suave in the game, initiating conversations with people I didn’t know and taking a more certain tone.
Additionally the other users and my behavior proved to support Yee and Bailenson’s hypotheses. I found that other attractive avatars and I came in much closer contact with those who we were addressing, almost up in the other person’s face, while the less attractive avatars tended to stay further away. Additionally, I noticed that not only myself, but the other attractive avatars, were also much more likely to self disclose more information. For example, the avatar who addressed me to ask if I was a guide and who later became involved in a detailed conversation with me was attractive (in the game of course). Finally, although I did not enter into any negotiations, I did find that I felt more in control and confident with my taller avatar. A couple times during my game play experience a shorter avatar came into contact with me and I found myself looking down on them (both physically and figuratively). Overall, my experience was in line with Yee and Bailenson’s hypotheses and the Proteus Effect.

I commented on:
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/10-are-you-trying-to-have-sex-with-me.html
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/10-too-fat-for-friends.html

Second Life For The First Time

2007-11-13T00:41:00.001-05:00

For somebody who has never played any kind of online game I certainly struggled getting the appearance that I was striving for in the game called Second Life. The avatar that I created did not exactly resemble the person that I wanted to. I was extremely tall and awkward looking. I found that people seemed either intimidated by my appearance or at least caught off guard by my extremely long limbs. I found it rather difficult to interact with people in the game. However, when I was able to strike up a conversation with another avatar I found that they had some very witty comments about my look. I felt like I was in a school yard being bullied by the cool kids. I was tall and thought that I was going to be able to intimidate people but instead of doing that I found myself being avoided or made fun of like I was an actual person.
After some time I found myself trying to keep quiet and avoid conversation. This way I could just observe others interactions. By acting sheltered or shy I found myself conforming to what Yee & Bailenson call the Proteus effect. This is when one conforms to the stereotypes of their avatar’s appearance in an online environment. I found myself acting exactly how others thought I should act. I was lanky and awkward and it did not take long for me to start acting in this manner. I am not a shy person at all yet I was acting how I thought my avatar should act. I felt self-conscious and uncomfortable. I tried my best to find others who looked lost or maybe even someone from the class who had never done this before. Fortunately I found an awkwardly uncoordinated and tall female. She looked like she could have been my avatar sister. I began chatting with her and felt much more comfortable because she did not seem to have the same stereotypes that everyone else had about me in my previous encounters. The more we talked the more comfortable I felt. This is proof of the Proetus effect and how we act as others see us.

10: Second, Third, and Fourth Life

2007-11-13T00:28:00.000-05:00

This was my second time entering the realm of Second Life for the purposes of a Comm 245 blog. Thankfully, I haven't developed PIU and I only log in to do research.

Already having dealt with the trauma that is the tutorial, I quickly moved to an open field with some people milling about talking mostly about sex, not surprisingly. I remember from articles I've read most of the people on Second LIfe (hereafter to be referred to as SL) are sexual outcasts or researchers studying sexual outcasts. I was still wearing my half woman / half fox outfit from my last experimental outing and was already getting invitations to yiff . Already out of my comfort zone I changed my avatar back into a girl-next-door attitude. I had already learned from last time that as a male I wasn't going to be approached by many. Some relatively normal looking people began to talk to me asking some basic questions about what my interests were. I chatted back, and the discourse slowly moved to flirty. I was reminded of the chat room experience I had earlier this semester. The difference this time around was I got to watch myself flirt back as a female. This really helped me act/speak more effeminately and really work the girl-next-door role. This is a textbook example of Yee and Bailson's Proteus Effect. This effect is when a person is when a person acts in line with the expectations of their character. Because I looked like an outgoing, attractive female, it was much easier to pretend to be one than when I was in a strictly chat based environment.

I than decided to experiment. I changed my avatar to a taller, more muscular woman. Yee would predict that the people I were interacting with would be more likely to take a subservient role, compared to my leader-ish character. Unfortunately, conversation came to a brief halt after my make-over. The men and women with whom I'd been chatting almost immediately seemed disinterested in me. This came as a shock to me. In a space like SL, where your appearance is a conventional signal (low cost, easy to change) you would think that it holds less weight, because anyone can change their appearance quickly, drastically, and easily. To my surprise, in this space where appearance is so wishy-washy, it means a great deal. So this matched the findings of Yee, as in their study less attractive avatars were treated with less friendliness.

I than played the other card, a skinny, but busy woman wearing rather revealing clothes. Now on my fourth life, I was ready for some really friendly interactions. And boy did people come through. All sorts of players took a vested interest in me. In fact, many went as far as to give me outfits to try on. Now, I'm not totally familiar with the economics of linden dollars, but apparently these items have monetary value. Just based on my appearance, people were willing to give me items of value, just so they could see me try them on. Each gift I received was more objectifying and sexual than the one before it, and even as a guy was pretty disgusted with peoples overt sexual motives. Frighteningly enough, however, I played along. In retrospect, I feel like a total creeper. Either way, because of my sexual appearance, I was much more comfortable acting like a sexual object. My own, uncharacteristic actions convinced me that the Proteus effect is quite real.

I commented at:
Hayleigh Hotshot Meets Second-Life
and
Pro-team-fortress-eus-effect

#10: Shorties on Second Life

2007-11-13T00:04:00.000-05:00

For this week’s assignment, I decided to enter the world of Second Life. Second Life is a multi-player virtual game dedicated to interacting with other players’ avatars. When asked to create an avatar, I decided to “express” myself by designing a character that looked like me. My avatar’s name is Sharon Gibson. She is 5’1 and has green eyes and brown hair.

As I entered the gamespace, I noticed a few details. First, the graphics of the game were much lower quality than I expect them to be. Being such a popular game, I was anticipating much more detailed environments and landscapes. Further, I also noticed that some players were very willing to converse, while others were not. I also found it a bit hard to navigate as I was only allowed to use the four arrows and my actions were delayed. In addition, I spent most of my time in the introductory stage of the game and didn’t get a chance to experience the space more in depth. As I gained all the necessary basic experience, I was finally able to leave “Orientation Island” and enter the game. Here people were much more willing to interact and communicate with others. I could chat with characters, overhear conversations and had much more freedom in my movements, gestures and options.

Overall I had a good experience playing the game. I had the opportunity to converse with several avatars. In the process I became “friends” with Kimberly McDonnell. She had entered Second Life about two days ago and was still in the process of exploring. She was very willing to show me around and invited me to follow her as she introduced me to other people she had already met. I also noticed that avatars are required to remain in their persona, as acting out of character was strongly discouraged.

Yee and Bailenson’s study focuses on three fundamental hypothesis of online interaction, especially related to the creation of online characters. To test their theories I tried to communicate with either very attractive or very unattractive looking avatars. Their first hypothesis states that participants in the attractive condition walk closer to the confederate than the participant in the unattractive condition. Although I didn’t think my avatar was the most attractive one in the gamespace, she was overall good-looking. During my interactions, I walked close to the people I was speaking with and they didn’t seem to back away. I did notice though, that two types of avatars were being clearly avoided by everyone else. These were the ones who were missing articles of clothing (likely to be a new and inexperienced member) and ones that were not very attractive. I also tried walking closer to some of less attractive individuals but they seemed to back away.

Their second hypothesis stated that participants in the more attractive condition would exhibit higher self-disclosure and present more pieces of information about themselves than participants in the unattractive conditions.. Again, this hypothesis proved to be correct. During my interactions, I regarded myself to be good-looking and entertained long conversations about my interests and my hobbies (self-disclosure). I generally found that as opposed to less attractive characters, the more attractive ones were more likely to disclose more about their personality and have a better sense of humor.

Finally, the third hypothesis states that “participants in taller avatars would behave in more confident manner and negotiate more aggressively than participants in shorter avatars.” This hypothesis was not supported by my findings. My avatar was short (5’1) and I did not have any trouble interacting with others, negotiating or communicating.

In my case, I think my findings support the Proteus Effect. This effect explains that people tend to “…conform to the behavior that they believe others would expect them to have.” In my case, the looks of my avatar changed the way I behaved. During the first twenty minutes of the game, while I didn’t have any hair, I avoided contact with people and others avoided communicating with me. Once I gained my hair back, my avatar looked more like the real me and thus it reflected my more confident personality. During this time, I was open to meeting new people (H1: walking close by, H2: high self-disclosure) and being 5’1 did not put me at any disadvantage (H3). Overall, the appearance of my avatar did change my behavior.

COMMENTS:
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-10-call-of-duty-4.html#links

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/if-your-avatar-isnt-hot-you-wont-get.html

The avatar is the 'You are here' dot of the virtual world.

2007-11-12T23:54:00.000-05:00

World of Warcraft seems to be the 800lb gorilla in the Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) scene today. It almost seems that everyone and their dog play the game. I have been playing the game very casually (sometimes I question and not spend the monthly fee for how little I play) since the launch in November 2004 and have seen the game grow from large to almost epic proportions.

I primarily play a male Night Elf druid, but I have alternate characters of almost all other races and both genders, although none of them are particularly high level. In the game, users are allowed to modify certain characteristics such as hair, face, skin tone, and accessories (earrings/tattoos); however, height and weight are set by the game according to race. Night elves are one of the taller races in the game. The druid class is a hybrid class meaning that it can fulfill several separate group rolls effectively and is desirable in a group, but possibly the least played class in the game. For the purposes of the assignment, I’ll use my experience with my main character and compare and contrast it with my experience playing alternate characters.

Yee and Bailenson would argue that while playing my druid (who is tall) for example, I would act more confidently and negotiate aggressively in comparison to my Dwarf hunter or Orc warrior. This is the Proteus effect, which, is argued, drives people to act in a manner appropriate of their avatar. In my highly unscientific observation, I didn’t perceive much of a difference in my actions between my multiple characters whether based on height (as in my example), gender, or class. While this seems to go counter to the theory proposed by Yee and Bailenson, it does not necessarily discount the theory.

I mention this because I feel that the scope and effectiveness of the Proteus effect lies in how much people empathize with their avatar. My personal experience with the game is much more objective focused. The game, to me, is just that, a game. The way I act in the game is completely based on making the game enjoyable. Thus, I am usually polite, social, and patient with people regardless of my avatar or theirs as creating problems usual ruins the gaming experience. In addition, I primarily play with real life friends; people who have met me and know who I am outside of the game. I believe that this results in a more homogenized act between characters as my friends will recognize all my characters as “Joe” not the character and thus there is no point in acting outside of myself. I’m more interested in the game play than the social avatar aspect of the game. When I play a Human mage, I act the same as when I play a Troll mage, or even my main Night Elf druid.

In my opinion, the avatar simply represents my location in the game world, but that’s just me and I play the game to simply play the game and have fun with already established friends.

Comment 1

Comment 2

If your avatar isn't hot, you won't get a lot

2007-11-12T22:55:00.000-05:00

Upon first entering Second Life, I thought I was in for an easy ride; little did I know that Second Life is not intended to be a piece of cake for the novice videogame player. I actually had a lot of trouble finding my way off of Orientation Island, even with the instructions provided in the corner of the screen. Some of my orientation tasks included communicating with the other players, grasping an object from my inventory, and using a map to explore my location. While already perplexed by trying to complete the tasks required to earn passage from the Island to the outside world, I was bombarded with messages from my fellow players. They were, at first, distracting, though I was eventually able to figure out how to interact with the other players to ask for help. The Second Life Mentor, Kandi Carnell, was particularly helpful – she even instant messaged me and called me ‘darling’! I was happily surprised by the helpfulness of many of my peers – I guess I appeared to be lost, and they were consequently very receptive to me. Maybe this is because I chose the cute “Girl Next Door” avatar character? Or because my name was Kramer Moomintoog (for the simple reason that I found the word ‘Moomintoog’ to be highly entertaining)? Whatever their motives, the other avatars were unexpectedly friendly and happy to help.

I teleported to Help Island after failing to attain my last piece of the Orientation Island “puzzle of passage.” My mentor Kandi informed me that it didn’t really matter, so I decided to move on as I had been stuck in a beginner’s rut for awhile at this point. On Help Island, I browsed the Freebie Store for clothing and accessories, and may have even accidentally picked up a painting – I really can’t be sure. I learned that “Linden dollars” are the units of currency in Second Life and that they can be purchased with real money. Though I myself didn’t find the investment worth it, I wondered if this was any significant source of revenue for the program.

Considering Yee’s discussion of the appearance of Avatars affecting users’ behaviors, I believe that in my case, it did. The first and second hypotheses in particular (walking closer to conversation partners when one is more attractive and exhibiting higher self-disclosure when one is more attractive) were applicable. After being approached by several of my fellow avatars, I realized that, in Second Life land, I was considered pretty hot. As I had no clue how to alter the default “Girl Next Door” avatar, I kept her exactly as she was and no one seemed to mind. Behavioral confirmation was definitely at work in that I was more confident in messaging and approaching the others for help after realizing that they would be receptive because I had selected a hottie of an avatar. In Yee’s own words, “the avatar is not simply a uniform that is worn, the avatar is our entire self-representation.” I tried to live up to the good qualities others may have assumed of me (being an attractive avatar), and consequently tried to represent myself positively. The Proteus Effect provides a good explanation of this phenomenon. These events illustrated the propensity of avatars to conform to individual identity cues – in other words, I wanted to act more friendly because I took on a more attractive character. In addition, online deindividuation effects contributed to my experience. Combined with the fact that the avatar is the primary identity cue by which players judge one another, I acted in whatever way I pleased as I was virtually anonymous apart from my avatar identity – with others basing their opinions solely on Kramer Moomintoog, no one would ever know the “real me” if I didn’t want them to.

While Second Life definitely has the potential to be an interesting escape from reality, it requires both time and practice. I look forward to hanging out with some of my new avatar friends, and hopefully escaping Orientation Island, the next time I’m in need of some quality procrastination.

Assignment 10

2007-11-12T22:28:00.001-05:00

Before this assignment, I had never played an online game. So I saw this blog post as a good opportunity to find out what all the hype is all about. The plots of some recent episodes of a couple of the television shows I watch have been centered around online games.

I visited the website for Second Life, and saw that they state on their homepage, "Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined and created by its residents." I decided to delve further. I signed up for a free account, chose a name and location, and selected an avatar.

One of the first things I noticed were the graphics. They were not very good. We hear in the media about all the improved game graphics, but I did not see anything that really impressed me.

I also noticed the avatar physical characteristics. Many of the choices were very unrealistic. I understand, however, that this is part of the appeal of the public to this game. According to Yee and Bailenson, "attractive individuals tend to be more extroverted and more friendly." They also mention that a player's other online characteristic change based on their choice of avatar and the avatar's physical characteristics. When I played, I did not notice much of a difference between my real life character and my in-game character. I can completely understand, however, that many people would act differently in-game than they do in reality. I, personally, had nothing to gain by changing my character when playing online.

Reality is reality, no matter what people argue. Until the online environment becomes reality, at the end of the day, all you have are hours spent online.

Comment 1
Comment 2

#10: Too Fat for Friends

2007-11-12T21:36:00.000-05:00

For this assignment I created an account and explored a whole new world in Second Life. Second Life is a multi-player virtual world in which users can explore, socialize and interact with each other through an avatar that can be customized and modified to one’s own liking. My experience in Second Life begun with me picking a username and a tutorial, in which I learned how to change my appearance, interact with others, utilize the map function and manage my objects. Since most others were figuring things out just as I was, I didn’t have many interactions with others. However, I did change my appearance in hopes of observing interesting reactions from others. I decided upon making “Haley Rieko” extremely unlucky in the gene department. She was much too overweight and short with distorted facial features in tow. Soon after editing my avatar, I was able to teleport from “Orientation Island” into a new exploratory welcome island where individuals were much more social and there were many interactions going on.

In this new environment many individuals were interacting with one another. I was in a small area with about twenty other avatars and there were multiple conversations I could “overhear” through the chat function. I attempted to approach a few different males by gesturing “Hey!” yet they ignored my attempted conversations. Therefore, I spent a great deal of time observing others interactions. At one point, there were two attractive, leggy females dancing with each other as others watched on. As soon as they ceased their seductive grinding, many attractive males approached them and began conversations in which they self-disclosed. “Haley Rieko”, on the other hand, had no such luck. The only individual I ended up conversing with was a frightening looking human who resembled a black cat. We briefly discussed the other interactions going on and our experiences with Second Life. For the most part I found myself afraid to approach others because I was unattractive and could not get a consistent response. Sadly, “Haley Rieko” kept mostly to herself and away from the more rowdy individuals in the “welcome island”.

My Second Life experience closely matched what Yee & Bailenson describe as the Proteus Effect. The Proteus Effect states that users in an online environment will conform to the stereotypes of their avatar’s appearance. After interacting in Second Life for an hour, it was blatantly obvious to me that one’s avatar is his or her “entire self representation” and had a significant impact on one’s behavior. Since “Haley” was significantly shorter, more unattractive and overweight than the social norm (others surrounding her), I subconsciously had her behave in a more insecure, shy manner. Other users kept their distance from me and engaged in less self-disclosure probably because they felt uncomfortable interacting with me. On the other hand, those individuals who were dancing provocatively in front of others were much more attractive, and therefore probably more confident with their actions.

2007-11-12T20:38:00.001-05:00

Assignment 10: Second Life

2007-11-12T19:31:00.000-05:00

Since this assignment was to be based on Yee & Bailenson’s theory, I thought what better way to judge this than to use the same source that they did for their research: Second Life. While on Second Life I joined onto the Ben and Jerry’s community – one could chose from several different communities which had different goals for each. From there I got to chose whom I wanted to be (create my avatar). I chose an attractive female character that had blonde hair, tall, and slim. It took me a little while to adjust to site and figure out how things worked.

Once I got a hang on things I went up to numerous people and talked to them – it seemed fairly natural. I also had a handful of people coming up to me and talking (primarily males). In real life I would not have gone up to that many people or just walk away from a person mid-conversation because the conversation was extremely dull. I feel being in CMC mode and being anonymous, not necessarily having the appearance that I had on there, was the main grounds for my behaviour; which goes against Yee and Bailenson’s theory about “Proteus Effect”. For instance I did not feel more confident or powerful because I was taller in this “world”. I knew no one would ever meet me or know who I was. I do not believe being this specific character made me act in a specific way – although I can see how if I wanted to I could have easily goofed around and picked a silly character (like the animals) and could have portrayed myself in whichever way I wanted to just for the sake of it, with ease. I also believe that if people wanted to I could see how these online people could to lead to PIU where a person could become infatuated with Second Life and it consumes their life and they feel more comfortable within it than in person. This space most definitely allows people to change their character with ease and comfort since the space is in CMC, which goes along with Yee and Bailenson’s theory.

Although, I did not have any changes in my personality based on my avatar’s looks, rather it was due to being anonymous, I do believe more people spoke to me and approached me because of how my avatar looked in this space. If my avatar was not attractive, I would not have been approached at all, or seldomly. And people may not have responded to me with such patience while I was learning how to function in Second Life if my avatar was not attractive.

10 Proteus Effects on Mal’Ganis

2007-11-12T13:25:00.000-05:00

The online environment I chose for Assignment 10 is the MMO World of Warcraft. I haven’t played since the expansion was released (it took me leaving the country, studying abroad, to quit the first time) but decided to reinstate my account and face PIU all over again for the sake of Assignment 10.

The Gamespace

World of Warcraft’s gamespace consists of a world called Azeroth that is divided into many different areas. There are two factions, the Horde and the Alliance which are in constant competition within Azeroth and have their own agendas and cities. Some of the areas are Alliance owned and some are Horde owned with everything else considered contested territory. The server in which I play is a PVP (player versus player) server which means that players of competing factions can “kill” each other whenever and wherever. A design such as this promotes a salient group (Horde vs Alliance) identity and behavior. This is an example of the SIDE theory in that the group identity is salient and members are visually anonymous thus promoting relationships on the basis of group membership including over-attributions based on social categories, conformity to norms, and social influences. My past experience playing in the space includes participating in pvp, raids, and quests. I have interacted with large groups of individuals and worked one on one with players assisting them in quests and instances.

My Avatar

My avatar is on the server Mal’Ganis in the Horde faction and serves as the primary identity cue to other players in the game. She is a level 60 Troll Priest. It used to be very difficult to select a Horde character that was considered attractive (including the trolls) until the release of the expansion in which the blood elves were added to the Horde faction and are now by far the most attractive Horde race.

My One Hour Return to Face Addiction

During the hour that I played, I spent time in one of the major Horde cities called the Undercity. This is an advantageous place because it is located close to some lower level instances that are open to both Horde and Alliance players. I talked to some lower level players outside of Scarlet Monastery and intimidated some Alliance players that were in the area. My behavior exemplified The Proteus Effect which states that an individual’s behavior conforms to their digital self-representations independent of how others perceive them (Yee & Bailenson, 2007). I found myself hunting down the Alliance players even though I was alone, offering healing assistance to lower level Horde players, and not feeling intimidated by lower level Horde or Alliance players. This is directly related to my avatar’s class and level. I wouldn’t normally have a desire to pursue Alliance players while alone had I been in a contested area or in Alliance territory but because my avatar is Horde and I am in a Horde controlled area, I felt as if it was my responsibility as a Horde player to PVP Alliance members traveling through the area. Being a priest, I found myself seeking out opportunities to use my specific skills. I have the ability to do things other than heal but it is something that I enjoy doing and feel like it is my personal responsibility as a healing class. Probably the most salient aspect related to my time playing and The Proteus Effect is the fact that I was not intimidated by lower level Horde or Alliance players. Even though the individuals behind the avatars may have more experience than I do through playing other characters and may be better at strategically playing than myself, I did not consider this during my interactions. My avatar was a higher level and had better gear and thus I felt more confident in interacting with other players and, like Yee and Bailenson’s study (2007) found with height and confidence/aggressive negotiation, I felt I could be more aggressive in my negotiations with other players when they asked me for healing assistance in instances and quests.

My other comments:
Comm 245 Blue: 10: EverQuest
Comm 245 Blue: Second Life

Second Life

2007-11-12T12:43:00.000-05:00

For Assignment #10, I decided to try out Second Life. This was my first experience playing in a multi-user world, and it was a bit difficult. I had to first create my avatar, and name her. This posed a couple of questions—did people generally use their real-world names? Or did they use names to protect their anonymity? I decided to go with the first option, and used my own name for my avatar. My anonymity was protected by the fact that I had to choose a last name from a list of preselected last names (which my real last name was not on). After choosing a name, I had to choose a look for my avatar. I had the choice of a few different characters, ranging from the “girl next door” look to some sort of animal-cartoon character. I chose the one I thought was most attractive out of all of the choices—the girl next door. Here is a picture of her compared with a few other Second Life characters.

(I am the girl with long brown hair wearing a purple shirt and jeans.) There was a very interesting interaction that occurred, and I believe the attractiveness of my avatar led to my actions. What happened was, as I was still learning how to walk/move fluently, I interrupted a conversation. An avatar named Carnel said to the rainbow-haired avatar, whose name is Racly,

[22:49] carnel Kanto: hi, Racly

[22:50] carnel Kanto: you are so beautiful!

I decided to jump in to the conversation, pretending Carnel was talking to my avatar, so I responded:

[22:51] You: thanks you're not so bad yourself!

[22:51] You: sorry I had to jump in

To which I had a positive response from Carnel:

[22:51] carnel Kanto: lol ;)

[23:00] carnel Kanto: hi, Vivian

[23:01] carnel Kanto: Here I am!

I think this interaction, after reading Yee & Bailenson (2007), confirms the first two hypotheses of the study—H1) participants in the attractive condition walk closer to the confederate than the participants in the unattractive condition, and H2) participants in the attractive condition would exhibit higher self-disclosure and present more pieces of information about themselves than participants in the unattractive condition. This interaction showed how because of my attractiveness, I was able to interrupt a conversation and not be reprimanded, as I would be in real life. I also wouldn’t want to interrupt a conversation in real life because I don’t think I would have the confidence to. One really has to have a lot of confidence to interrupt a conversation because it is seen as a rude and impolite gesture; I guess my attractiveness allowed me to get away with it in Second Life. I also did not hesitate to walk up to others, perhaps it’s because I was a little lost and confused, and wanted some help. I probably asked for more help than if I had been labeled an “unattractive” avatar; I definitely wasn’t afraid to talk to any of the other characters. This definitely supports hypothesis 1 and 2 because I had the confidence to walk up to people and get close, and I had the confidence to disclose information about myself (that I didn’t know how to play, that I was new, etc.). I wonder what it would be like if I chose the animal-looking avatar. Would I have had as much success with getting help, or talking to people?

One of the limitations of Yee & Bailenson (2007) study was that they “were unable to explore the role of choice in the Proteus Effect,” and while I did not experience those limitations, I did come across some other limitations. I was able to choose my avatar, I wasn’t just randomly assigned an attractive, average or unattractive avatar. While I was able to choose my avatar, I wasn’t able to personalize it—I had to select a premade avatar. This restricted my ability to express myself, but I guess that’s not as important for this study. From this experiment, I felt that my results demonstrated how the appearance of my avatar shaped how I interacted with others. I don’t know if my online self-representation will in turn shape my real-world behavior, but I guess only time will tell. How often I play Second Life also probably makes a differences of how it will shape my real-world behavior; I don’t know if I’ll be back anytime soon, though.

10: EverQuest

2007-11-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

I was at a complete loss as I began playing EverQuest as a newbie by the name of Sinkaba. Cool name I thought as I tried to find my way around the game. I was a frog-like human, with lots of strength and intelligence. I was able to pick what character I portrayed, and this took me a while to decide. For this whole experience, I wanted to be sure I picked the "best" character. After much thought, I decided to just go with the "muscle-frog" (I forget what it was called on the game), and be as far from human-looking as possible. The frog was powerful looking and not the most attractive thing out there, which is half the reason why I picked him. I wanted to see if i would feel less superior to all the more attractive and human-like characters I was playing against. I don't know if I played the game wrong, or what, but for some reason I did not come across as many people as I thought I would. There was a very attractive character who first greeted me, and I did not notice myself feeling intimidated at all. I was a little overwhelmed just because there was SO much going on, and so many missions to accomplish, and so many hints and conversations to read. But after a little while, everything seemed not as new and I began settling into the game. I actually began feeling cool about being the frog character. Yee and Bailenson's (2007)article about Proteus Effect caused me to approach and think about online gaming in a whole different way. Yee and Bailenson define Proteus Effect as the way an "individual behavior conforms to their digital self representation independent of how others perceive them". In their experiment, they found that height did matter, and people who were taller ended up being more confident. Also, the more attractive the character was/is, the more intimate they become with others and the more they self disclose to these perfect strangers. Since I was not a human being, I think my time in this online space was less associated with Yee and Bailenson's hypothesises. The conclusions they came to made perfect sense, but unfortunately, they did not apply to me. I think since I am not a regular online gamer, I do not let myself get caught up or attached to the people I meet or how I portray myself within this game. I can understand if gaming was my life I would take more time with my comments and make sure I was putting my best foot forward, but for this exercise, I just went in and played, without giving it much thought.

Assignment 9: WoW the Temptation is Too Much!

2007-11-06T10:03:00.000-05:00

Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, popularly known as WoW, is the world’s largest Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). The game is set in a Worldcraft universe full of adventure and lurking danger where the player has the choice of ten races and nine classes to choose from and countless quests to partake in. The interact-ability of WoW also allows for a strong sense of community and encourages “in game socialization” through adding players to your friends list, searching for people online, and creating groups. Through inventive design WoW allows its characters to express emotions through visible facial changes and bodily language which even furthers the richness of the media. Most importantly, the allure of WoW reaches beyond your typical “gamers,” and encompasses all generations, ethnicities, and professions. WoW has attracted roughly 2 million players from North America and about 8 million players worldwide. What are the social implications of WoW?

People around the world are horrified by the social isolation that MMORPGs such as WoW create. There have been countless stories of varying degrees about internet addiction via online games. Although internet addiction has not been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association there are still Internet Addiction Recovery centers opening around the world, predominately in China where instances, such as the alleged death of a child due to neglect from WoW-addicted parents, are commonplace. One could easily see the connections between World of Warcraft and Problematic Internet Use. According to Davis et. al there are four dimensions that predict problematic internet use:
1) Diminished impulse control
2) Loneliness/Depression
3) Social comfort
4) Distraction/procrastination

These four dimensions highlight the importance of individual differences in forming internet addiction. The appeal of being whoever you want and acting however you want in a fantasy world is too much for most people to give up; yet, coupled with Davis et al’s four dimensions, it can be a harmful combination. People who might not be comfortable in social situations, might find online games, such as WoW, as a more manageable place because they are able to maximize social distance and engage in impression management. Also with the stunning graphics, millions of players, and countless quests, it is easy for anyone to use WoW as a distraction mechanism or as a means of procrastination. Akridge, a reformed Warcraft addict who cut his playing down to a few hours four times a week from fifty hours a week, believes that “people can get addicted to the feeling generated by playing the game but he maintains that most people simply need to exercise self-control” (Chicago Tribune, Nov. 30, 2006). Although it is unclear which one of the dimensions drove Akridge’s initial problematic internet use, this story illustrates that although the psychological space, or WoW in this case, may be highly captivating it is instead the individual differences that causes someone to become addicted to them.

Let us take another example, this time with loneliness/depression and social comfort being the main instigator of internet addiction. In this case, Shawn Wolley became addicted to another MMORPG, Everquest, at 21 years old he was depressed and totaling about 12 hours a day of game play. Without the opportunity for psychological help (psychiatrists shunned the idea of problematic internet use), Shawn Wolley shot himself in the head not long after he had lost his job and been evicted from his apartment. What was the experience that tipped the scale for Wolley? It was speculated that his inability to cope with the real world peaked when a character that he had fallen in love with online, rejected him in real life (Chicago Tribune, Nov. 30, 2006). Doctors believe that social isolation and personality change were side effects of his “mental deterioration.” This tragic story demonstrates how individual differences are a major factor in problematic internet use, the psychological problems that Wolley was experiencing were too strong for him to overcome his internet addiction with moderate help such as Akridge.
Caplan’s Theory of Problematic Internet use and Psychosocial Well-Being can be applied to Wolley’s case and problematic internet use as it pertains to WoW. Caplan states that:
1) Individuals with psychosocial problems hold negative perceptions about their social competence
2) These individuals prefer online interactions because it is less threatening and they feel more efficacious
3) Preference for online interaction leads to excessive and compulsive online interaction, which then worsens their problems at school, home work

Professor Hancock used the diagram below to explain Caplan’s theory:

Especially with the Wolley case, it is easy to see how someone could fall into this cycle. But let us make up an example, say there is a man name Bill who is performing poorly in his new management position at his firm. After a days of ego-degrading insults about his incompetence at work, Bill begins to feel bad about himself and his social competence. One day, his friend gives him the free 30-day WoW trial. Instantly, Bill is ensnared, he creates a physically attractive human avatar with magical powers and embarks on his fantasy world where he meets new people and is constantly positively reinforced by his completed quests online. Eventually, he becomes so adept that he becomes the leader of his own adventurer group. Meanwhile his performance at work is getting worse due to his lack of sleep and motivation. His feelings of incompetence at work only strengthens his motivation to delve back into the mystical world of Warcraft. I think you get the point—it is a vicious cycle.

Now, can we attribute the problematic internet use to the unique attributes of WoW (interactive avatars in a social and competitive online psychological place) or do we look into the individual? I believe that individual psychosocial problems, such as loneliness and depression, are a stronger indicator of addiction then the online game itself. Out of millions of users, how many people are addicted? If it were the unique attributes of the psychological space that lead people to problematic internet usage then there would be 8 million people world wide that would be completely incapable of real-world social interaction, and this is not the case.

Facebook: The Gift and the Curse

2007-11-06T09:08:00.000-05:00

When I think about an online activity which would reflect the notion of "Problematic Internet Use" (PIU), Facebook appears to rear its devilish little head. Since the advent of this social networking tool, Facebook has undergone a wealth of platform changes. The once simple wall posts, poking, and message sending has evolved to include the "Super Wall", News Feed, Video Application, Games, "iMusic". It seems like we're not in Kansas anymore. With each day that passes, when a Facebook user logins into their account, they are more often than not greeted with a new snazzy update. Thus, it comes as no surprise that college students everywhere cite "Facebooking" as the number one study time killer. I think that based on the current trends of Facebook usage, ultimately, Facebook has the potential to lead many individuals to have negative consequences in not only their academic career, but also their professional and social ones.

According to Caplan’s theory of "Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-being" (2004) , he cites three major components that ultimately become a continuous trend that is largely cyclic in nature:

1) Individuals who have psychosocial problems hold negative perceptions about their social competence.
2) Such individuals opt toward online interaction because the perceive it as less threatening and they feel more efficacious.
3) Such a preference for online interaction leads to excessive and compulsive online interaction, which then makes their problems (whether at school, work, or home) worse off.

The appeal of Facebook to the average user is the freedom it gives to individuals to portray themselves in whatever way they want. Facebook serves to facilitate this process. With respect to the freedom it gives users to decide what sort of information they want to share (i.e. their interests, relationship status, etc.) as well as pictures (with the ability to untag and/or only allow certain individuals whom you decide to view your pictures) and wall posts. For a person with psychosocial problems the aforementioned environment is ideal. In a sense, they feel less threatened within such an online space because they are in complete control. Such, control without fear of negative outcomes has the potential to lead to excessive and compulsive use of the Facebook network. As Caplan argues, such compulsion can trickle its way into other aspects of these individual's lives.

Assignment 9 - Where I again speak from personal experience.

2007-11-06T08:48:00.001-05:00

Livejournal-based roleplaying (RP) games enjoy a certain degree of popularity. In particular, the multi-fandom games typically have a large player-base considering the pool of characters to choose from is practically endless, and more people means a deeper well of creativity. You pick a character from any television series, game, or movie, apply, and if accepted you proceed to interact with any number of personalities from a diverse range of media under the guise of that character. It's not unusual for a single person to play five or more characters from completely unrelated genres. Due to Livejournal's blog-like interface, roleplaying in this space is primarily text-based save for the inclusion of "icons" or avatars which can be used to represent each character's facial expression and mood. Since most games set a minimum activity requirement (five posts a week, for example, not including the responses to said posts), RPing can get more than a little time and energy-consuming, especially if the game in question is incredibly large.

Caplan (2004) defines Problematic Internet Use (PIU) as "maladaptive cognitions and behaviors involving Internet use that result in negative academic, professional, and social consequences." This breaks down further into the individual's perception of their Internet use; 'excessive use' is a quantitative assessment of how much of their use exceeds the normal or planned amount of time, and 'compulsive use' which is a general inability to control the amount of time spent on line coupled with guilt about their lack of control. Those involved in these roleplays often note how "obsessed" they are with the proceedings, sometimes continuously refreshing pages in the hopes of a response, and that this level of activity usually extends far beyond the amount of time they plan to devote to online endeavors. Most roleplayers in this context are students, so their grades often drop, they fail to maintain social obligations and generally get very little accomplished outside of the RP itself.

Caplan's theory of Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being (2004) presents a set of conditions under which PIU may develop. To begin, the term psychosocial is taken from Erickson's Stages of Psychosocial Development (1950), and merely refers to an individual's psychological development occurring inside and in interaction with a particular social environment. Caplan's conditions are as follows:

1. individuals with psychosocial problems have a negative view of their own social competence (i.e. shyness, passivity, inability to "connect" with others)

2. therefore, they come to prefer online interaction over Face-to-Face communication because it's considered less threatening and more effective in terms of what aspects of themselves they wish to present (if at all).

3. If 1 and 2 are true, this leads to excessive and compulsive online interaction, which then worsens their situation at work, school, romantically, etc.

The unique affordance of roleplay is not only is there social interaction with a minimal amount of obligations, but there is a literal, mutual deception occurring here since the point is to be someone/something else. A lack of confidence in one's own social abilities and subsequent apprehension over approaching others is immaterial in this space since the players' limitations in that area do not affect the game. Friendships develop more easily since this factor is removed and there is a mutual point of interest (this relates to McKenna's Relationship Facilitation Factors, discussed earlier in the course). The individual will gradually spend more and more time online as these interactions replace their day-to-day offline social relationships, negatively impacting their situation even more. Roleplaying then becomes even more inviting as a source of comfort. The cycle continues.

Comment one
Comment two

Assignment #9 “Youtubeaholism”

2007-11-06T08:08:00.000-05:00

“It is a disease that has taken over not only our nation but the entire world. This disease is called Youtubeaholism” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBRBGd2Z5QQ). Youtube is an asynchronous video sharing website in which users can share, upload, and view a wide variety of video clips. It also has a feedback feature that allows users to post responses to videos. Many users spend a great amount of time making a clip, commenting on other clips, making a new clip as a response to a recently posted clip, and then waiting for feedback. It has become an everyday part of users' lives that people have gone into depression when a favorite youtube performer ceases putting up videos. As many of users themselves point out on their video clip posted on youtube, too much of it can lead to problematic internet use (PIU).

PIU is a “problematic behavior related to too much time online,” which leads to negative academic, professional, and social consequences. Two characteristics associated with PIU is excessive use (quantity of time perceived by the participant to exceed normal time online) and compulsive use (inability to control one’s online activity along with guilt of lack of control).

Youtube is a psychological space that could lead to PIU due to a mixture of internet properties and individual differences. According to Wallace, one factor is the locus of control (the amount of control one perceives to have). On youtube users have complete control over their self-presentation. This power is amplified because it does not cost one anything to use youtube (affordability) and one can access youtube 24 hours a day. Another internet property that is a key ingredient in PIU is maintenance of virtual presence. Users have to constantly manage their online self-presentation by posting up new videos because if you want your name to be known you have to be consistently active. Wallace also mentions operant conditioning which makes a behavior difficult to extinguish due to the variable reward schedule. Because youtube is asynchronous, this factor does not apply because unlike synchronous chats, rewards are delayed (ex. Responses to videos).

The Theory of Problematic Use and Psychosocial Well-Being suggest that psychosocial issues may also lead to PIU. Caplan proposes that lonely and depressed who hold negative perceptions about their social competence prefer internet interactions because it is less threatening and more efficacious, which, in turn, leads to excessive and compulsive online interaction, which then only worsens their problem. In terms of youtube, those who are lonely/ depressed may rely on it for social interactions that they feel they cannot get ftf. Although youtube is asynchronous and the purpose of it is not for direct social interaction, people may develop relationships and networks through youtube, which can begin to replace ftf relations. This preference for youtube will then cause users to constantly check their ratings and post even more videoblogs, which will then make them even more depressed and lonely because having a top rated video cannot remedy the loneliness they feel outside of youtube.

A unique property that youtube has is that the rewards received from posting an original video are not perceived but real. Knowing that many veterans have moved to sign actual contracts increases the perceived benefits of constantly going on youtube, which is ironic because it is the “addiction” that led to success.

Comment 1
Comm 245 Blue: Facebook: The Gift and the Curse
Comment 2
Comm 245 Blue

2007-11-06T08:02:00.000-05:00

“Did I get email? When’s the last time I checked? Did anybody write me a Facebook message? I wonder if my order was shipped yet? Has anybody written on my Myspace wall? Has ______ emailed me back yet? I still have to confirm plans with ______ for Friday. Did I get any new emails in the last couple of minutes?”

This might be the thought process of somebody suffering from PIU or Problematic Internet Usage from the addictive activity of email checking. There is a certain thrill, for some people, of receiving email—it means that you are popular and loved by others, especially now that facebook and myspace email all of its new notifications to one’s email account, thereby linking the two addicting behaviors. Receiving email also means that you are important in today’s attempting-to-be-paperless world because email is such a common form of communication.

PIU can usually be indicated by two factors: 1) internet usage is so high that daily life is always interfered (for example relationships, work, schoolwork, etc.), and 2) the addicted user is addicted and cannot stop performing this behavior easily. People tend to become addicted because of the concept that once they check their email, and they see X amount of new messages, this is a reward and they want to be rewarded more and more often, so they check their email more and more often, hoping for just another email.

PIU from email checking can interfere with daily life because it can affect academic or occupational performance. If I spend all of my time checking email, perhaps as a form of procrastination, I will not be able to finish all of my homework in a flowing manner, and I would keep pushing it off until I just checked my email one more time. It creates an inefficiency of productivity because of all of these email checking interruptions. It’s not that people spend hours checking their email (unless they read all of their spam mail, too), it’s the fact that people are compulsive about checking their email. Addicted email checkers lack control of their strong desire to check their email, but they probably will not spend longer than they had planned (unless they had a huge paper due the next day, and they really did not want to write their paper…).

The same factors as Caplan’s model probably do not directly apply to the PIU of email checking because addictive email checkers are not usually depressed or lonely; they could be, but not necessarily. Caplan’s model doesn’t really apply because the online interaction of email checking probably isn’t the same as the online interaction as playing in a MUD or chatting on AIM. What creates this difference—the fact that email is not a synchronous form of communication. Email checkers may hold negative perceptions about their social competence, therefore choosing email as their sole form of communication and these individuals might prefer “online interaction” because it’s less threatening (I don’t think they can feel more efficacious because an email is usually attached to one person), and this preference for online interaction could lead to compulsive online interaction thereby worsening their problems. Caplan’s model could apply to this email checking PIU but not as much as a person with a different PIU (say, MUD). It’s also hard to say that Caplan’s model would apply because the “interaction” of email is not as constant as communication in a synchronous online space.

Email is becoming an extremely popular form of communication because it’s convenient to communicate with people all over the world and country using this space, and at the same time keeping the formality of a business letter sent through mail is possible. With email we are able to replace the mail system—people can still write informal, personal letters, and businesses can still communicate professionally if needed; we even get junk mail or spam that we can have the pleasure of discarding without reading. Email is also allowing the world to become paperless; banking can be done completely online nowadays, and this saves people time from having to run to the bank or make a phone call only to be kept waiting for 10 minutes before speaking to a representative. Email is unique because it can be personalized to be kept as a formal email, or written to your best friend. It’s a convenient form of communication with everybody (you surely don’t want to give out your screen-name or personal cell phone number to businesses/interviewers/etc.). It allows for the best of both worlds—as long as one doesn’t become a depressed, compulsive email checker.

9 Is your son a computer hacker?

2007-11-06T07:31:00.001-05:00

A hacker is someone who uses a computer to gain unauthorized access to data. Hackers have no ethics, no morals, and no respect for the law or their fellow man. Hackers are damned to an eternity in hell.

Unfortunately, the youth of today are increasingly dabbling in this life of crime. So how do you know if your son is a computer hacker? Dr. Reginald Gibbons provides an informative guide:

Has your son asked you to change ISPs? "Most American families use trusted and responsible Internet Service Providers, such as AOL. These providers have a strict "No Hacking" policy, and take careful measures to ensure that your internet experience is enjoyable, educational and above all legal. If your child is becoming a hacker, one of his first steps will be to request a change to a more hacker friendly provider."

Are you finding programs on your computer that you don't remember installing? "Popular hacker software includes 'Comet Cursor', 'Bonzi Buddy' and 'Flash'."

Has your child asked for new hardware? "If your son has requested a new "processor" from a company called "AMD", this is genuine cause for alarm."

Does your child read hacking manuals? "A few titles to be on the lookout for are: "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson; "Neuromancer" by William Gibson; "Programming with Perl" by Timothy O'Reilly; "Geeks" by Jon Katz; "The Hacker Crackdown" by Bruce Sterling; "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland; "Hackers" by Steven Levy; and "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric S. Raymond."

How much time does your child spend using the computer each day? "If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites."

I'd recommend reading the full article to better recognize the warning signs. It's important to sharpen your senses since the psychological spaces frequented by hackers (such as IRC) often lead to problematic Internet usage.

Many of Caplan's Internet affordances play a role in encouraging these young anarchists

Greater anonymity -- Does your child use a password to protect his email? If so, what is he hiding from you? These young anarchists use anonymity to cover their tracks.

Greater control over self-presentation -- Does your child use services such as Facebook or MySpace? If so, you have already failed at being a parent.

Less perceived social risk -- Peer group is the biggest mediating variable on behavior. If your kid's best friend is named AcidBurnz, your kid is going to prison.

Less social responsibility -- This really goes without saying.

These affordances appeal to youth precisely because of their psychosocial problems and negative perceptions about their social competence. This leads them to prefer online interaction, which leads to problematic and often criminal Internet usage.

The model of Davis, Flett, and Besser also provides an excellent model for understanding these troubled youth. The typical child-hacker almost certainly faces diminished impulse control, depression, and lack of social comfort. If your child displays any of the tendencies above, they are almost certainly violating some form of international law and unless immediate intervention is taken this may devolve into a life of crime.

Is there a problem with lack of internet use?

2007-11-06T07:28:00.000-05:00

If there is such thing as not being online enough or a problem called lack of internet use rather than problem internet use, I just may have it. After coming to Cornell last year I found myself continually online chatting with friends back home from Canada on MSN messenger and wasting massive amounts of my time in pointless conversations, not only did I see my marks suffer but also my health. I was continually tired and found myself getting sick at times and I rarely ever have these problems. While Caplan sees internet use as either an obsessive or a compulsive problem, I definitely fell under the obsessive as I found myself being online way longer than I had planned on a consistent basis. I do not consider my use to have been compulsive because I never seemed to feel guilty about it.
The problem that I had was obviously minor compared to a gambling addiction for example but it was becoming a problem in my life because it was interfering with more important things that I needed to worry about, such as school. Believe it or not I did not have facebook before I came to Cornell… yeah pretty lame. Rather than discontinuing chatting with my friends online I just changed the method that I was using. By using an asynchronous method I was able to leave shorter messages and not get into long conversations with people. I stopped using MSN messenger almost all together. Now I barely have a reason to go online and it is actually kind of nice I will go on to check my email, facebook, or the scores of all the hockey games played the previous night from time to time but I do not feel that I am missing out on something just because I am not online.
I would say that Wallace would agree with me in that I have an internal locus of control, meaning that I have control over my life. I go online when I need to. I rarely ever spend time online surfing or chatting because there is really no satisfaction for me in doing that. I decide when and how long I will be online and I never think about how long I will be because it is not an issue.

A9 – Surfing the Wikipedia Wave

2007-11-06T05:26:00.001-05:00

American Gangster was a cool movie, I'll go read about it on Wikipedia. Oh, it's based on a real story, let me check out Frank Lucas' article. Hmm, I don't know too much about heroin, I'll read that. Seems it's an opiate. Whoa, wars were fought over opium between China and England. It seems as if the Chinese Empire wanted to outlaw opium imports. The Qing dynasty were ruling at the time. In 1912 that gave way to the Republic of China. And now it's 10 PM and I've missed dinner, great.

This may have happened to you before; you come across an unrelenting wave of information that must be tamed, read and learned. Urban Dictionary would describe the process as a Wikipedian Loop, a deadly loop of addiction that only ends when your computer crashes due to the number of pages open.

Wikipedia surfing or general Internet information surfing is not normally thought of as problematic Internet use (PIU) in the same vein as online gambling, and massively multiplayer games. However, I've talked with enough people both in real life and online to know that people do let their thirst for knowledge get the better of them on occasion. But isn't that a good thing? After all, learning must be better than wasting away time playing games. Not necessarily so. While I may have learned a little something about the effects of heroin or the Opium Wars, the general knowledge gained does not always return its value. How will that heroin information answer question 3 on my ECE exams? In addition, for my example, I've missed dinner and got a late start on my homework. While not a dramatic effect on my life, it is a typical one, that when repeated could add up. So what drives people to downloading page after page of an encyclopedia?

Natural human curiosity seems to be a clear target for responsibility. Humans are inquisitive, which drives them to learn. Encyclopedias are excellent sources (I acknowledge Wikipedia does have its faults here) of knowledge that can help satisfy that drive. With this in mind why do people not sit down and read the Britannica or head over to the library? The online space here, especially the space of Wikipedia, can help explain. The ease of use and more importantly easy access to inordinate amounts of information seems to make people use Wikipedia first and foremost. Would one rather click a button on a hyperlink or ask a librarian for help in finding “some book?”

So people would seem likely to first choose Wikipedia for ease of use and access, but would anything other than sheer intellectual curiosity lead to PIU? This is where the style of Wikipedia articles, somewhat alluded to in the beginning paragraph, helps to explain the PIU potential. Anything remotely meaningful in an article is linked to its own article. In essence, articles flow into one another without end or impedance. There is no need to turn a page or look up another book, one click and it is there.

In addition to this simple flow aspect, B.F. Skinner's reinforcement schemes can also be applied, further strengthening the draw. For one, there is the continuous ratio reinforcement (a special case of the fixed ratio reinforcement where reinforcement occurs after every response.) Every article contains links to more information. However the real catch is a variable ratio reinforcement scheme. Every now and then, one comes across an article that is really interesting, going above base curiosity, that is read from beginning to end. As we learned, a variable ratio reinforcement is particularly powerful in generating the highest response rates and resistance to breaking the habit. Skinner's reinforcement schedules help to explain why people may continue despite other needs. It also shows that the unique properties of Wikipedia in relation to the traditional paper encyclopedia and libraries are responsible and how they are responsible for potential PIU.

As long as vaguely interesting articles come up with the occasional diamond, it is easy to understand how hours float by and it's now 1 AM and there is still work to do. Hmm, I think I'll read about diamond first.

Comment 1

Comment 2

8. “Ayurveda – Really Old Indian Medicine”

2007-11-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Ayurveda, or Ayurvedic medicine, is a form of health care originally established in ancient India. Today, this system of health care is used by millions in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India, and indirectly through its influence on Chinese, Unani, and Tibetan Medicine. Ayurveda is a holistic form of medicine, meaning that it involves treatment of the body as a whole rather than its parts, and calls for healthy living as well as physical, mental, social, and spiritual harmony. I thought that such an all-encompassing form of medicine, one that borders on being a way of life, would be a fascinating subject of study for this assignment.

% inter-rater reliability	100
	frequency	% of msgs
Information	19	0.95
Tangible assistance	6	0.3
Esteem support	0	0
Network support	3	0.15
Emotional support	0	0
Humor	1	0.05

As a note, I was sick last week and therefore did not get a chance to work with a partner on this assignment, so inter-rater reliability will be at 100% for this observation.

I observed alt.health.ayurveda on Google groups, and as you can see, received some interesting results. During my appraisal of these messages, I realized that this group was mainly a forum of exchange of information on how to maintain a lifestyle that uses ayurvedic medicine. Everything from meditation, medicine, dieting, and sexual activity was addressed in these posts (one proponent of Ayurveda recommended that people have sex everyday). 95% of the messages were thus coded as information (advice, referral, teaching, situation appraisal), a rather high number in comparison with Braithwaite’s results of 31.3% information when observing a disability social support group. This high percentage is feasible because the Ayurveda group serves more as a hub of information for a unique, holistic medicinal practice. The Ayurveda group’s span of influence on all factors of livelihood makes it more of an influence on general well-being rather than a support system during times of distress when one is disabled. Other groups that specialize in supporting those who have experienced trauma or suffer a terminal illness will find more emotional support in within their groups. This is the major reason that I found zero messages for esteem (compliment, validation, relief of blame) and emotional support (relationship, empathy, encouragement, etc.) – the Ayurveda group was too general and not necessarily oriented towards tragic occurrences in the lives of those who practiced it.

An interesting aspect of my observation was that tangible assistance (loans, help with performing direct/indirect tasks, etc.) was found in 30% of the messages, which is vastly larger than Braithewaite’s findings of 2.7%. Network support (access, presence, companions) for this ancient medicinal practice was also at 15%, more than half of Braithewaite’s findings of 7.1% for the disability group. My Google group featured a convention people could attend in London on Ayurveda, a description of a distance-learning based program Ayurveda practitioners could take advantage of, and several ads for Ayurveda medicine and other products. These messages are important in providing services and networking for a specialized and esoteric form of medicine. Groups for things like disabilities or obesity are not necessarily as esoteric in any region of the world, since disabled and overweight individuals are to be found in all countries. The perpetuation of Ayurveda outside Asia would require more of an effort and dissemination of information in a region where the practice is less known. Humor was used in one message, which makes sense since this group is heavily based on sending people real information on treatment rather than emotional support.

Walther’s factors of interaction management and access play an important role in this online group. Users can edit their posts to their liking until they deem it credible and helpful to others who may read it. Access is also important because the availability of such a group 24/7 allows people in any country with a computer, i.e. London, Sri Lanka, the US, to read and post information about the medicine at a comfortable hour. (It also allows COMM245 students to do their homework at 4am in New York!)

Major differences exist between my findings for messages from the Ayurvedic group on Google and Braithewaite’s findings for messages from a disability social support group. These disparities can be explained, however, from an examination of the true nature of each kind of group – one is mostly information based, while the other provides more emotional support through times of distress.

Links to posts, messages were recorded from Oct. 22 and older. Messages not pertaining to Ayurveda or not in English were not included:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.health.ayurveda/topics?start=0&sa=N
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.health.ayurveda/topics?start=10&sa=N
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.health.ayurveda/topics?start=20&sa=N

9: Efficient ways to waste time - mindless but captivating websites

2007-11-06T03:24:00.000-05:00

Take a look at the following websites containing only the finest, intellectually stimulating material:

lalalaa.com
http://www.virtual-bubblewrap.com/popnow.shtml
www.leekspin.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXtRTCLIkhM

I sincerely hope for your sake that you were not expecting the latest report on Presidential Candidates, or the discovery of a cure for multiple sclerosis. These websites all have one thing in common: they are purposeless, except for their entertainment value and their temptation to help you procrastinate. (YouTube video is an exception, however the content of the particular video goes along with this idea). Websites that waste time, and have no social and/or economic value to the individual that visits them, are a potential cause of PIU. Problematic Internet Use is defined by Wallace as problematic behavior related to too much time online. The online psychological spaces of “Websites that Waste Time” are a potential cause of PIU because of that – they give people a reason to avoid their homework from professors or tasks designated by their boss. Such sites also provide stimulation, engagement, and entertainment without having to interact with other people face to face. These factors appeal to the four dimensions of PIU devised by Davis, Flett, and Besser (2002), which are (1) diminished impulse control (a website like the bubblewrap site provides easy and quick stimulation during an impulse to go online); (2) loneliness/depression; (3) social comfort (#s 2 and 3 can be mitigated temporarily by laughter elicited from checking out lalalaa.com); and (4) distraction/procrastination.

In light of Caplan’s study in 2004, excessive and compulsive use of the internet when viewing these sites can result in a frightening case of PIU. I would imagine that all of you have at least one friend who views useless websites a bit too much for his/her own good. Before tv-links.co.uk was taken down, many may have spent hours wasting time watching television show streams on their computers, resulting in negative academic, professional, and social consequences in their lives (the degree to which this may have occurred varies by person, of course). To the extent that people have negative self-perceptions of their social competence, they can be lured by the beautiful voice of a Japanese cartoon character on leekspin.com to help them forget about their loneliness. A two-dimensional character on a computer screen is certainly non-threatening, providing 100% entertainment and 0% judgement, giving an internet surfer a feeling of efficacy in a medium where they can’t screw up. The ultimate preference for online interaction with “websites that waste time” can detract from their attention in school and work, and can even result in their neglecting what minimal and sad social relationships they have in real life. A user’s neglect of real life problems through an excessively greedy use of the internet is transformed into even lower self-confidence, creating a sort of positive feedback between over-usage of the internet and low self-esteem.

These “websites that waste time” do not fold up and fit neatly into the box that is Caplan’s model of PIU, however. Different aspects of the Affordances of Internet Interaction do not apply to these special places on the internet. Since our wasteful sites offer no means of social interaction with others, anonymity, control over self-presentation, and self-disclosure do not play a role in the ultimate preference for going online. Less social risk and responsibility are present, as mentioned before. The Holly Dolly Horse (at least that’s the animal I believe it to be) from the fourth link above will never reject you, and will continue to provide happy scat and improvisational singing until you’re ready to move on.

Some unique aspects of these wonderful websites is that they can be interactive – nowhere else on the internet can you pop bubblewrap except at the official Bubblewrap website (not even Facebook!). The main aspect of these sites is their comedic value – they provide viewers with G-rated entertainment that you don’t find too much of in porn or gambling. Although social interaction is lacking in this web space, “websites that waste your time” can be stimulating and addicting to those who do not handle them properly.

Comments:
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-9.html

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/did-i-get-email-whens-last-time-i.html

9. Well at least my addiction pays well...

2007-11-06T02:47:00.000-05:00

I have always known myself to be an addict of the internet. Ever since I first connected to AOL instant messenger on a 28k modem to talk to the one other kid I knew with AOL in third grade, I've always been online more than is good for me. Until recently, this hasn't been too problematic. I knew I could be doing other things with my time, but I was an effective time manager, and there were no negative effects. Recently, however, I've begun to invest money in the stock market. While I've made some MAD MONEY, my addiction to the internet has gone from bad to worse. I probably lose more money on my cell's data plan than to capital gains, because I just simply can't go anywhere with out being in the know. From the readings, I now have an understand of why I'm so obsessed. Has it helped me? No. Not at all...

Caplan breaks internet addiction into two categories. Excessive and Compulsive. Excessive use is categorized by using the internet for longer than planned or is considered "normal". Compulsive use is categorized by being unable to control internet use, which results in guilt. I totally fall into both of these PIU (problematic internet use) symptoms. I need to be online, and spend time in class checking my portfolio. At the same time, I'll check stocks walking from class to class on my phone. I just need to know all the time, and I feel guilty because I know I should be doing other things.

To add insult to injury, psychosocial and internet affordances also contribute to my addiction. Caplan explains that because social interactions in online spaces are more anonymous, controllable, and have lower social risk, they are more attractive and act like a vicious cycle. Now this doesn't apply perfectly to my case, because it's not hurting my social life in the real world, and most of my addiction is just getting information. I wind up posting comments online about stock speculation that I would never make in the real world because, when I'm anonymous, there's no risk that someone could judge my intelligence. Theoretically though, Caplan would suggest that I could end up getting my feelings hurt in real life, turning to these stock forums for comfort, getting worse at speaking in public, and than relying on the forums even more.

Wallace attributes my PIU to an internal locus of control. Locus of control can be internal or external. Internal is the feeling that you have control over your life. External would be if you feel you don't have control over you life. The stock market is a very unstable thing, that leads to feelings of uncertainty. By checking up on it all the time, I get a sense of control, and am thus rewarded. In this sense, you would have to blame me, not the internet, for my addiction. It's my desire for control that leads me to it.

I commented @:

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-9.html

and

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/facebook-gift-and-curse.html

Assignment 8 - Excessive Myspace Activity

2007-11-06T01:28:00.001-05:00

Myspace stalking is an online activity that is often associated with PIU. Davis, Flett and Besser developed the Online Cognitive Scale focusing on individual differences. They found that PIU could be predicted on four dimensions --- diminished impulse control, loneliness/depression, social comfort, and distraction/procrastination. On these four dimensions, I know lots of people, including myself, who engage in Myspace activity on a dangerously PIU-sensitive basis. The most common of the four dimensions that arises would have to be distraction/procrastination. Who doesn't Myspace or Facebook stalk to avoid doing a problem set? The other three dimensions will come into play along with Caplan's Theory of PIU.

Myspace can lead to PIU because it allows you to search others’ profiles and, depending on how much an individual is willing to share, many profiles are quite open. Unlike other social networks like Facebook, Myspace does not limit viewers to only seeing members that belong to their networks. As long as one’s profile isn’t private, his/her profile is fair game for anyone’s viewing pleasure. Also, Myspace posts the last time someone has logged in and lets you know whether someone has read your messages or not. Availability of these pieces of information alone induces the likelihood of stalking because if you know you know that just with the click of a button you can check to see when someone last logged on, you will be inclined to click and click on all your friends pages. If you can see whether someone reads the messages you send them, you are more likely to check your sent messages than you would be if that information was not available.

In light of Caplan’s Theory of Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being, Myspace stalking does in fact apply psychosocial and internet affordances. Myspace users have less social responsibility because they are not necessarily required to present themselves in a way that they feel society thinks they should. Also, perceived social risk and greater control over self-presentation come into play because users can basically be anyone they want to be on Myspace: they can choose what information (location, age, sex, interests, and pictures) to disclose, how to present that information and who to present that information to. Greater anonymity and more intense and intimate self disclosure are key as well because people can remain anonymous (choose to make a private profile and choose whose friendship to accept) and in turn be more inclined to be themselves and share information that they normally wouldn’t share with people they already know. Sometimes people choose to interact with people who don’t know them because they feel they won’t be judged. Of course, if someone had all these internet interaction affordances, he/she would be inclined to find a home in an online space in order to let loose and be himself/herself.

In conclusion, Myspace can lead to problematic internet use because of all the information made available on the social network. A particular example of PIU associated Myspace would be stalking someone on Myspace whom you are particularly attached to but feel insecure about your relationship with him or her. This is a psychosocial problem that could lead you to compulsively check one’s last date of logging in, comment wall, pictures, top friends list, and new friends added. Also, people who feel like they can’t be themselves FtF may resort to Myspace to seek people they can talk to or feel comfortable bonding with. This induces PIU because it makes people feel more like themselves online and can lead to excessive internet use which can then lead to more problems FtF.

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/9-most-useless-post-youll-ever-read.html

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/say-i-if-you-dont-stalk-pictures.html

Addicted to Texas Hold'Em?

2007-11-06T01:14:00.001-05:00

Online poker has become a world-wide phenomenon. Millions of people around the world can sit at a virtual table on any particular gambling site, and play cards for real money. This addiction contains a psychological component, and an ease of access using the internet component. You can play in a tournament with hundreds of other people or play heads-up with a random gambler from across the globe. What makes online gambling such an interesting concept is there is no physical cash or actual poker chips being handled. For some, since the money is all wire-transferred, this makes it seem as if you are not really playing with “real money” sometimes. Also, it is unbelievably easier to access the internet website to gamble than travel to an actual casino. These are clearly major dangers of online gambling addiction.

A large number of people suffer from PIU or problematic internet use. With regards to online gambling, PIU is a relevant term to use when a person’s time on the internet is negatively affecting their life, and this does not just refer to losing money via gambling. Caplan (2004) identifies two types of users who likely suffer from PUI: Excessive users spend an overly-excessive amount of time online; Compulsive users can not control his or her own internet use and experiences guilt as a result. The following can be examples of both types of users: not spending time with friends/family, or feeling the need to log-on to a gambling website while at work or school. Clearly, online gambling addiction can be linked to PUI, and the addiction can have extremely damaging effects on a person’s life.

Caplan’s (2004) major theory of PIU and Psychosocial well-being relates. Some people may feel more comfortable gambling online, because it is not as intimidating as trying to “read” someone’s “poker-face”. The online-enviroment might be construed as a more relaxing environment for some gamblers. In other word’s a person’s individual differences or personal issues might dictate a person’s low-social competence and thus a preference for using the internet which is not a stressful environment for this person. Another perspective along the theory framework is that people with low social competence will compulsively gamble to avoid awkward social interactions with other people in real-life, and instead, prefer to interact with the other gamblers online in somewhat of a social community.

Wallace mentions general factors relating to Internet properties that contribute to PIU. One that is applicable is the maintenance of virtual presence. An addicted gambler will often find a group of others he likes to play with and will get to know these people. This is a similar concept to a friends having a weekley poker game in ftf, except online oftentimes you do not "really" know these people you are playing with. You want to keep your reputation as a player in tact and you want to keep your virtual presence, oftentimes due to personal insecurities (individual differences).

I’ll leave you off with a relevant quote from the movie “Two for the Money” (2005):

"You're a lemon. Like a bad car. There is something... there is something inherently defective in you, and you, and you, and me, and all of us. We're all lemons. We look like everyone else, but what makes us different is our defect. See, most gamblers, when they go to gamble, they go to win. When we go to gamble, we go to lose. Subconsciously. Me, I never feel better than when they're raking the chips away; not bringing them in. And everyone here knows what I'm talking about. Hell, even when we win it's just a matter of time before we give it all back. But when we lose, that's another story. When we lose, and I'm talking about the kind of loss that makes your asshole pucker to the size of a decimal point - you know what I mean - You've just recreated the worst possible nightmare this side of malignant cancer, for the twentieth goddamn time; and you're standing there and you suddenly realise, Hey, I'm still... here. I'm still breathing. I'm still alive. Us lemons, we fuck shit up all the time on purpose. Because we constantly need to remind ourselves we're alive. Gambling's not your problem. It's this fucked up need to feel something. To convince yourself you exist. That's the problem". Source: IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417217/quotes

Comments:
Comm 245 Blue: Assignment #9 “Youtubeaholism”
Comm 245 Blue: A9 – Surfing the Wikipedia Wave

Assignment 9 AOL Instant Addicter

2007-11-05T23:34:00.000-05:00

Throughout my years of experience on the Internet, there is one activity that I see systematically leading some towards Problematic Internet Use (PIU). Most Internet users have engaged in this activity themselves and have sometimes noticed that it takes up much more of their time than they believe it should. I am speaking about instant messaging, chatting on AOL or AIM, a common activity that has spread in popularity over the years. Users have the ability to chat with their friends in synchronous communication at any time. Everyone can identify with the situation of chatting online when you are supposed to be researching something or completing a homework assignment. All of a sudden it is 2 o’clock in the morning and you either complete the task haphazardly or don’t do it at all. Instant message programs are a perfect place for vulnerable individuals to begin to experience PIU.

The synchronous psychological space of instant message programs is very conducive to PIU. To begin with, users with an internal locus of control will be very attracted to IM. People with an internal locus of control are defined as, “People who felt their own actions were effectual and had a great deal to do with how events came out” (Wallace, 173). With the ability to carefully construct messages and control what information is supplied to others, they have more control over their circumstances, therefore increasing their attraction to IM. Attraction will be furthered through operant conditioning. Having someone IM you is a reward. When someone signs online, they do not know when they will IM’ed or by who. It is this variable schedule of rewards that keeps them attracted, especially in this synchronous space where they can come at any time and in any number. The maintenance of virtual presence factor also comes into play in instant messaging. Users feel as if they have to maintain their online community and avoid missing out on things when not online. This will further their attraction and keep them online longer. Finally, Newbie Disease also has its effect. Most of us were on AOL or AIM constantly when it first came out and have since reduced the amount of time that we spend on IM. Even though this is so, many people who have had a lot of experience with IM continue to overuse it.

Caplan’s Model definitely applies to instant messaging. Many people would be identified as displaying excessive use of IM, exceeding normal or planned time online. Some, however, experience compulsive use, unable to control themselves from chatting on AIM and feeling guilty about it. As far as psychosocial factors are concerned, individuals with psychosocial problems would find Instant Messaging very attractive. Due to their negative perceptions about their social competence, they would find Instant Messaging to be a more comfortable means of communication due to its anonymity and reduced responsibility, subsequently lessening the threat to them. This preference for online interaction through instance messaging would most likely lead to the excessive and compulsive use outcome that Caplan points to, proving to further exacerbate their psychosocial problems as the cycle begins again. Although causation cannot be claimed, Instant Messaging and its synchronous communication capabilities do appear to promote PIU in vulnerable individuals.

I commented on:
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/facebook-gift-and-curse.html

Assignment 9 - Stock Prices and Problematic Internet Usage

2007-11-05T22:51:00.001-05:00

An online activity that I believe can lead to Problematic Internet Use (PIU) is the obsessive checking of stock prices. The internet has made it easier than ever for people to trade on the stock market. Trading is now more accessible to even larger amounts of people. Today, stock prices and data are easy accessible in real time (or nearly real time) from many portals on the internet. As a result, many working professionals whose occupations do not include financial services are spending a lot of time searching the stock market world. This, of course, is not a bad thing, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. It is beneficial for the economy for more people to invest. However, if one's professional duties suffer as a result, this could have other negative ramifications. Employers recognize the issue, however, to the extent that many companies have blocked financial services websites from their servers. At many large corporations, for example, a client cannot gain full access to their online accounts on websites such as Fidelity.com, the online home of Fidelity Investments, a private company in the financial services industry.

A couple of the most popular online websites for searching for and tracking stock prices are Google Finance and Yahoo! Finance. These websites update every few seconds when the stock markets are open. A stock holder can sit and watch their stock go up and down, up and down during any given workday when the markets are open. While many investors have personal plans to check their stocks once a day, or once a week, the opportunity to check one's stocks throughout the day is always there. It is when people begin to watch their stocks the whole day that PIU comes into play.

While Caplan's observations about excessive and compulsive internet use align with my example, Caplan's theory of psychosocial well-being does not really. Online investing is not so much a social tool as it is a means for making financial decisions. While there is great anonymity among online investors, online investing is not motivated by one's control over self-presentation online, as compared to many other online activities that could be associated with PIU.

Comment 1
Comment 2

Say "I" if You Don't Stalk Pictures..

2007-11-05T22:50:00.001-05:00

Checking friends’ Facebook photo albums is an online activity that contributes to our propensity to fall prey to Problematic Internet Use. When in need of a distraction from work or something to look at while chatting on the phone, I, along with many others I know, have developed a habit of clicking the “Photos” tab to see if any of our Facebook friends have posted pictures recently. Sometimes the photos we stalk are those of our good friends – other times, they are acquaintances we’re not even sure why we have. Sometimes they are photos of people we know, and sometimes they are photos of people we’d prefer not to. Either way, we stalk – and we like it.

Wallace’s ideas of Locus of Control and Operant Conditioning may explain why photo-stalking may lead to PIU. Firstly, when we are on Facebook, our actions remain un-monitored – there is no evidence of what we’ve done. In addition, we are free to check out anyone’s profiles/pictures that we are friends with, or those of anyone with an open profile. This notion of Locus of Control means that we believe we have control over our circumstances and what we do online is entirely dictated by us. Secondly, Operant Conditioning explains the variability of the photo-stalker’s schedule of “rewards.” We are not always rewarded with exciting pictures to stalk – we are rewarded when we are we enjoy the particular pictures posted and want to look at them over others.

Caplan discusses individuals’ psychosocial problems as a reason for PIU. All of these are not necessarily applicable in the case of Facebook picture-stalking, as there is no actual interaction occurring that is being alleviated for the socially anxious by the online medium. Looking at photos has nothing to do with social competence or FtF confidence. However, this behavior can become compulsive and disruptive. The affordances of internet interaction applicable to this phenomenon are greater anonymity of the stalkers, less perceived social risk as their actions go undetected, and more intense self-disclosure by those who post pictures of themselves.

A unique property of photo-stalking is that it goes on constantly, and it is virtually undetectable. There has not yet been any technology able to track people’s viewing of pictures (like there has been for checking AIM profiles), which makes the hobby all the more secretive, appealing and addicting. There are a host of reasons for looking at others’ pictures, and it has proven to be a habit of the masses.

Assignment 9: Wash, Brush, Floss, Facebook.

2007-11-05T22:33:00.000-05:00

Facebook could lead to and is often associated to Problematic Internet Use (PIU). Facebook has so many components to it that lead people to join the network and embark in things like “Super pokes”, Fantasy Stock Exchange, News Feeds, profile updates, posting items, pictures, comments, compliment, games, groups, – you name it, it’s pretty much on there. Ultimately, Facebook could lead some people to have negative consequences in other aspects of life such as academics, professional, and socially.

Caplan’s theory of Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-being (2004) has three major components that become into a continuous cycle from the first – to the last – and back around:

1) Individuals with psychosocial problems hold negative perceptions about their social competence
2) These individuals prefer online interaction because it is less threatening and they feel more efficacious
3) Preference for online interaction leads to excessive and compulsive online interaction, which then worsens their problems (at school, work, home, etc.)

Within Facebook people can portray him/herself in any way they desire, and have a lot of flexibility to do so. One can write whatever he or she wishes about him/herself and can manage which pictures are kept tagged, as well as which wall posts are kept for people to see. Obviously, there are certain facts people cannot sway away from such as their education information, who their friends are, their pictures (that they kept tagged). But with privacy settings one can keep their profile “non-interactive” so that it is solely what they put it up as – with no wall pictures or posts displayed. Under these circumstances people with psychosocial problems will feel less threatened within this online space and feel safer within it which could ultimately lead to the excessive and compulsive interaction within the Facebook network, and take away time and create more problems for these people in other aspects of their lives.

Another addicting reason why these people may be attracted to the World of Facebook would be to do with “operant conditioning”. Wallace discusses “operant conditioning”, which is when people will act in a certain way when a behaviour is rewarded with a variable schedule, and with this behaviour it is more difficult to get rid of since there is a “reward”. An example of this regarding Facebook would include (like we had discussed in class) wall posts, comments, and messages: where there is no way to know when exactly when you may receive one but you know you will at some point, in which you keep hitting the refresh button on the page. Another major phenomenon that occurred on Facebook that had originally been argued about was the News Feed. Far surpassing from checking wall posts and messages, News Feed offers a new level to “operant conditioning” where people can see everything going on with all their “friends” on Facebook – from breakups, to pictures, to events, to wall posts.

Personally, I will on average check my Facebook daily, as I do my email, because it is a way I correspond to people. But I guess for some it is much more of a compulsive routine: wash, brush, floss, Facebook.

9: (Dys)topia

2007-11-05T22:28:00.000-05:00

Internet addiction? Been there. Eight or ten years ago, I walked into the library to find my friend Josh at a computer, clicking sporadically, with a look of intense concentration on his face. The screen was mostly black, with a small box filled with white text. He was playing Utopia, an online game that would soon come to dominate my life for a year.

The premise of Utopia is that you're the ruler of a tiny 200-acre plot of land, or province, in a team ("kingdom") of 20 or so provinces, in a world of thousands of kingdoms. You get to choose how to distribute your resources, what buildings to build, and more importantly how to attack and pilfer provinces from other kingdoms. Nowhere in the entire game is there a graphic--instead, you click "attack" and the next screen either tells you "you won" or "you lost." If you conquer another province in battle, you get some of their land (how this works geographically is never fully explained). Sound fun? Maybe. Addicting? Of course not. What made Utopia such a stubborn and unyielding part of my life was that my province got its new resources (from taxes, etc) every hour of every day. If I ran out of gold or magic, I could just wait an hour. If I forgot about the game for a day, though, I might return to find my province in ruin from attacks I hadn't defended against or retaliated against quickly enough. So, no day passed during my stint as a ruler in which I didn't log on to Utopia at at least three times. Before I left for school, during lunch, as soon as I got home, before dinner, after brushing my teeth: this tremendously compelling game had my 11-year-old self glued to the screen.

Utopia's draw worked in a spiral: you played to win, or at least to become one of the best provinces in your kingdom. But so did everyone else. If you were abandoning your province for days at a time, there was no way you could keep up. And in my opinion, abandoning any semblance of graphics forced players to emphasize the pure numbers that defined their provinces--how many acres, how many honor points, etc. There is no entertainment in playing Utopia every once in a while. The only satisfaction is building up your own province until it's something you can be proud of. That takes time, and I think it's the main reason Utopia led so many of its 40,000 or so players to devote so much of their waking lives to it.

Utopia is a great example of many aspects of Scott Caplan's model. Compulsive use, excessive use, withdrawal, perceived social control--for every marker or problematic internet usage, I can think of four stories from Utopia. I certainly remember my co-players being less than socially apt: it's a fantasy-based setting, which gives players the freedom to pretend to be whoever they want, and what's more, it unites strangers into a team with a goal. No matter how awkward you may be in person, if you're the best attacker in the kingdom, your teammates will listen to you and what you type into the kingdom forum. Although there was some diversity--there were players with lives and wives and jobs and kids--I always had the feeling that my teammates were people that I didn't want to know in real life. I was completely satisfied with being on the same online team as them. And I couldn't be more glad that I stopped playing--who knows how much of my life might have atrophied while I searched for the respect of 40,000 indifferent strangers?

#9 -- eBay

2007-11-05T22:21:00.000-05:00

Problematic Internet use, (PIU) is defined as a problematic behavior related to too much time online. According to Caplan any form of internet use can become a problem if there is an excessive use (use exceeds normal, planned amount of time online) and there is a compulsive use (inability to control online activity along with guilt). In today’s post, I will focus on online bidding as a form of PIU.

One of the most popular online bidding websites is eBay. eBay does not actually present its own products but rather acts as a marketplace by facilitating the exchange of goods between members. Wallace lists four important factors of internet use that can lead to PIU: locus of control (the degree to which one believes they have control over their circumstances), operant conditioning (it is harder to extinguish a behavior that is rewarded on a variable schedule than one that is predictable), maintenance of social presence (the degree to which an individual feels compelled to preserve their presence in an online space) and newbie disease (the degree to which attraction to an online space is more intense at first). The two that apply the most to online bidding and can lead to PIU, are locus of control and operant conditioning. First, on eBay, members have complete control (locus is self) over their actions (e.g. price at which good is auctioned). This gives a sense power, which can be very attractive. Second, in online auctions it is hard to predict when new products will be posted, at what price and when the next bidder will offer a price higher than the previous (operant conditioning). Further, bidders usually wait in anticipation to win a product or for their goods to be purchased and are more interested in the game aspect of the process. This can lead to compulsively checking and refreshing of the page.

In his theories, Caplan discusses psychological wellbeing. He states that if an individual with psychological problems holds a negative perception of their social competence, he or she will prefer online interactions as they are less threatening and therefore will make excessive and compulsive use of the Internet. In the case of online auctioning, the theory does not fully apply. On one hand it is not supported by the fact that websites like eBay are asynchronous and do not involve communication between individuals, thus removing any factors related to social comfort. Further, (excessive and compulsive) urges to shop can happen in front of the computer as well as at a mall and thus are not restricted to online settings. On the other hand, to support the theory, the time that one spends bidding online is not spent face to face with friend. Another one of Caplan’s theories discusses affordance of internet interaction. The theory states that greater anonymity, greater control of our self-presentation, more intense and intentional self-disclosure, less perceived social links and less social responsibility lead to PIU. In the case of eBay, members are simply looking to buy and sell, not to form relationship thus the self-presentation, self-disclosure, and social responsibility factors do not apply. It could be said though, that if someone felt ashamed to buy certain products in a regular store, one could purchase them on eBay. In this case, there would be anonymity and less perceived social links as afforded by this Internet interaction.

There are some unique properties to the online auctioning place. First, it creates a place whose sole purpose is to allow people to buy and sell products. Also, although it connects and brings together people with common interests and passions, it does not give them a designated space to develop relationships based on shared hobbies or advice. Instead, it fosters strictly business relationships and private information (e.g. sex, location) are kept secret until the purchase has been made.

MY COMMENTS:

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/did-i-get-email-whens-last-time-i.html#links

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/9-complusive-facebook-ing.html

A9 - PIU and MMORPGs

2007-11-05T21:45:00.000-05:00

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) are a growing internet space that incorporates a mix of online social interaction and more traditional character building from role-playing games. The basic game play of most MMORPGs centralizes around making your character stronger through various means, and building social network of other players and non-player characters (NPCs) for either the purpose of interaction, or to accomplish a common goal. The method of both these activities is where the potential for problematic internet use (PIU) (Caplan 2004) resides. Caplan defined PIU as “maladaptive cognitions and behaviors involving Internet use that result in negative academic, professional, and social consequences.” (Caplan 2004) In examining these factors, I will use World of Warcraft (WoW) as the reference point for specific mechanics, but many of these concepts can be generalized to other MMORPGs, both from the past and ones that are currently live (meaning people still play them actively).

In Patrica Wallace’s The Psychology of the Internet (1999), she identifies several factors that are important in the potential growth of PIU in players. The first and foremost factor comes from how most MMORPGs handle the strengthening of a character. In WoW, this is achieved through two mechanisms. The first is the accruement of experience points through the completion of quests and the successful defeat of enemy units, often referred to as “mobs” in the WoW community. This model of reward of character development most closely resembles B.F. Skinner’s notion of “fixed ratio reinforcement.” After a certain amount of quests or mobs are completed or defeated, the player is rewarded with a level, and with it more points to spend on abilities. This is the lesser of the two mechanisms in terms of contribution to PIU.

The more problematic mechanism is the item reward system. Items are used to increase the player’s attributes. Some items are given as quest rewards or purchasable with in-game currency, but the best ones are obtained by defeating a difficult “boss” enemy. These usually require a group of players to defeat, meaning a greater time and social commitment than just playing by oneself. The rewards are not guaranteed either, there is a list of items each boss can drop, and each is associated with a probability, with only one or two items dropping per kill. This creates what Wallace calls operant conditioning: a variable ratio rewarding system that encourages players to keep defeating the same boss, over and over. The combination of powerful operant conditioning with a lengthy and significant psychological investment forms a real potential for PIU (one can see how invested players can get in these items here Warning: there is a lot of profanity and its rather loud. The page is also slightly incorrect, the audio is from players of another MMORPG called Dark Age of Camelot, not WoW )

Caplan(2004) came up with several other factors that also point out areas in MMORPGs that can attribute to PIU. His study involved whether psychosocial problems (mainly loneliness and depression) were indicators of PIU. His theory developed a flow chart for how PIU may come about in people with psychosocial problems. The first step is a negative self-perception of social competence by at risk people. This can lead to a preference to CMC for various reasons, such as the decreased amount of social cues and increased control over the remaining cues. From this preference can arise excessive and compulsive use. The individual can then form an even more negative impression of their real world social skills, and repeat the cycle to fall further into problematic behavior.

MMORPG’s share many factors with other spaces of the internet that would make them attractive to those with psychosocial problems. First, communication in the game is done through a mediated channel, mostly text chat. The mediated nature of text chat on the internet would be appealing to those who find more rich media intimidating. Also, the game offers another level of cue and perception control with customizable characters. A player can choose their gender, race, and character’s physical appearance when creating them, allowing a player to shape how they want to be seen by other players in the game.

In terms of uniqueness of these factors, none are really new to the internet. Operant conditioning is the basis for abusive gambling behaviors, and online social interaction can be seen as the basis for abuse of p but MMORPGs combine them in such a way that the lure to excessive and compulsive use of them is problematic for many players.

comments:
Comm 245 Blue: A9 – Surfing the Wikipedia Wave

Comm 245 Blue: Sealing the Deal

2007-11-05T21:02:00.000-05:00

Tania'a Boyfriend's Drug of Choice

2007-11-05T19:28:00.000-05:00

When I first started using America Online at the age of around eleven or so, I thought that chat rooms were the most unbelievable creation I had ever seen. There I was, a preteen girl with the ability to enter any chat that I wanted. And although I did not constantly use chat rooms to talk to others, there are numerous people that have in fact been sucked into the world of Internet anonymity and chat room addiction. Chat rooms become popular because of their anonymous nature. As Wallace indicates, people are able to have a locus of control, where one can control what to share and what not to share about themselves. Davis' social comfort adds to peoples' interest in chat room as well since many people feel more comfortable in an anonymous situation. Chat rooms afford people the opportunity to become someone else. A shy, lonely person in face to face interaction has the ability to become an extroverted person due to the fact that in an online chat, no one really know the truth about who you are in real life.

I recently came across a post from a girl named Tania asking for help regarding her boyfriend's addiction to chat rooms. Basically, her boyfriend's only relationships have ever been from online communication as well as some phone communication. Tania and her boyfriend met in a chat room, but after they started dating, she assumed that he would discontinue his interest in chat room interaction. Suffice it to say, he did not. Her boyfriend remained a constant user, entering chat rooms to meet women day and night. This falls under Caplan's idea of excessive use since he would partake in chat room conversations much more than any normal, usual or planned amount. Tania also says that her boyfriend would become agitated and shaky with an inability to concentrate when he tried to stop using the chats. This compulsivity of use shows that even though he wanted to stop and felt guilty that he was not spending time with his girlfriend, there was an inability to control his Internet usage.

Tania's boyfriend seems to fall into the categories in which Problematic Internet Users are defined by both Davis and Caplan. Since his only interaction with women came when he started using online chat rooms, Tania's boyfriend most likely turned to them out of loneliness. The Internet provided an outlet for him to "build up a phony relationship with these women and then simply moved on without actually meeting them," something that he had never had the courage to do in real life. These chat rooms also provided a social comfort for him in that the anonymity of the Internet afforded him an ability to have a diminished impulse control. These factors have been proven significant in predicting Problematic Internet Use.

Caplan's Theory of Psychosocial Well-Being also relates to many people's obsession with chat rooms. For example, Tania's boyfriend has trouble meeting women in face-to-face interaction, thus giving himself a negative perception about his own social competence. As a result, he started entering chat rooms, preferring online communication due to its anonymity and less threatening nature. The perceived social benefits and more social control that chat rooms afford also create a preference for Internet interaction rather than face to face. This interest in online communication then leads to Tania's boyfriend's excessive and compulsive use of chat rooms to the point where he shakes when he has not has his "fix" as if the chat room is his drug of choice. Eventually, the cycle should continue and this excessive, compulsive use of the Internet should create even more psychosocial problems.

Tania's boyfriend's situation is slightly unique in that there is no evidence that his use of chat rooms intensified his psychosocial problems. It is also unclear how great his psychosocial problems were to begin with. However, his situation does show the problematic nature of chat rooms, much like the numerous other people that have made online chat rooms their drug of choice.

Link to Tania's cry for help:
http://www.selfpsychology.com/_spbb3/00000037.htm

http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/facebook-gift-and-curse.html
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/11/9-well-at-least-my-addiction-pays-well.html

9 - Second Life

2007-11-05T18:16:00.000-05:00

Second Life, a somewhat recent internet craze is basically an online community where one creates an avatar (or a virtual representation of themself) and travels around the virtual world in search of other people. Right off the bat, it is clear that this place can incorporate several of the theories we've discussed, but I think Caplan's theory of Problematic Internet Use really comes into play.

Caplan states that individuals who have psychosocial problems will hold negative perceptions about their ability to socialize in real life. Because of this, these people prefer online interaction because it is less threatening. This preference then leads to excessive and compulsive online interaction which worsens their psychosocial problems.

Applying this to Second Life, the purpose of this online meeting place (it's not really a game, though it is marketed as such) is implicit in its name--to create a Second Life. This premise would be very attractive to people with psychosocial problems because it offers a chance for users to reinvent themselves. With their new identities, these people can rebuild who they are and generate a group of Second Life friends with whom they identify.

As we've seen in class, surrounding oneself in an environment like this can lead to very excessive and compulsive use of internet. One example I have in mind is the man whose real-life wife is threatening a divorce because he has a Second Life wife. Clearly, this man has spent an extreme amount of time in this environment if he has already found himself a virtual wife. This represents just one negative outcome of many that could result from too much time spent in Second Life (aside from psychosocial skills worsening, perceived social risk and responsibility also can decrease, according to Caplan).

Second Life is a unique internet addiction, however, and I think this stems from the fact that it is specifically designed for people to branch out socially via a virtual world (which might imply to the user that, not only is the environment safer, but it's kind of like a role playing game, so there would be no harm--something that is proven untrue by the previous example). Contrasted with things like compulsive email checking or online gambling, Second Life fosters the theory that Caplan presents.

Due to Second Life's unique nature, I think that in addition to Caplan's theory, it also becomes important to think back to online dating/relationship theories (especially the notion of Connecting to Similar Others and Removal of Gating Features) and consider them as a contributing factor of psychosocial problems or the desire to interact frequently via this forum.

#9 - shopbop can't stop!

2007-11-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

A common online activity that is associated with problematic Internet use is online shopping. The rapid explosion of online shopping sites has made spending money through the Internet quite common and addictive. Through a vicious cycle of browsing online shopping sites and buying unnecessary amounts of clothing, individuals tend to get caught up in the illusion that they aren’t actually spending money and could potentially wind up in debt. Even more, they could show symptoms of a PUI, or problematic behavior related to too much time spent online.

Addicted online shoppers will appreciate the fact that they are always in control because they can choose the type and make of the clothes they want and they can purchase them whenever they please. Wallace would note that this stronger feeling of a locus of control would play a part in internet shopping addiction, causing the individual to spend increased time on shopping sites with a stronger feeling of control. Additionally, an online shopping addiction is strongly integrated in the dynamic fashion industry. Therefore, the styles and fads are always changing and being upgraded. This may lead to obsessive browsing of sites because users may never know when they will be rewarded by clicking and finding a new great buy. This correlates with Wallace’s factor of operant conditioning because individuals are tempted to browse sites in a compulsive manner because their behaviors are rewarded on a varying schedule.

If Davis et al. were analyzing an Internet shopping addiction they would focus on the individual differences leading to online shopping addiction. The individual would probably be found to have a diminished sense of impulse control (more likely to buy on a whim whenever there is a desire), more prone to loneliness or depression (wanting to buy in order to feel better temporarily), more likely to seek social comfort (they may not have real life friends to shop with), and more likely to engage in online shopping in order to distract themselves or procrastinate (this is evident when the internet shopping negatively impacts one’s life because it interferes with significant daily tasks). These differences in personality definitely play a factor in the likelihood of one developing a problematic Internet usage behavior such as addictive online shopping.

Caplan’s model doesn’t fully apply to online shopping addiction because it internet shopping addiction isn’t correlated strongly with personal communication differences. Just because one holds a negative perception about their social competence, it does not infer that this individual is more likely to prefer shopping online as to shopping in a boutique. Additionally, shopping behaviors have the potential to be addicting no matter the individual’s personality circumstances. It is difficult to believe that individuals are more likely to prefer online shopping because it is less threatening. Although some of Caplan’s model doesn’t hold true to Internet shopping addiction, the last step of Caplan’s model applies. Those individuals who spend more time online shopping may engage in a never-ending cycle spending more time online shopping and less time engaging in healthy, offline behaviors.

9 Compulsively checking your email

2007-11-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

Problematic Internet usage (PIU) describes excessive and compulsive Internet usage which affects offline behavior – work, school, real-world relationships, etc. Email is one activity which may lead to PIU. People often feel compelled to check their email extremely frequently due to the unpredictable nature of email. You generally cannot tell in advance when that next unread message will be sitting in your inbox. (On occasion, you may be waiting for someone’s reply or an automated email to confirm account registration. But even in these cases you do not know exactly when the email will arrive – so you check more frequently.) As discussed in class, this lack of reward predictability is a very effective way to entice individuals to continually return for more. This phenomenon is what makes things like gambling such an addictive force.

Email users tend to exhibit compulsive use rather than excessive use. That is, they won’t be able to control their urge to check email, but they generally won’t spend a longer amount of time than planned checking email. If email is checked frequently, it will only take a short amount of time to sift through the few unread messages that do show up periodically. There simply isn’t much else to do when checking email, so excessive use is not common. However, it is still PIU because continually disrupting your workflow to check email hurts productivity. It could be used as a form of procrastination, reducing academic performance or efficiency in the workplace.

Being an asynchronous and feature-poor medium, email tends to take a back seat to technologies like IM and social networking sites when it comes to day-to-day social interactions. So Caplan’s model is less applicable to PIU of this particular online activity. Compulsive email checkers do not necessarily suffer from loneliness or depression. In my experience, email messages are likely to be infrequent communication between people with weak ties, or notification of ongoing events. An individual who feels the need to promptly respond to or be aware of these messages may well be highly social, rather than lonely and depressed. Consequently, they do not necessarily prefer online interaction – they might simply use it because others will use it as a means to contact them.

It is interesting to draw a comparison to traditional mail here. We don’t check our regular mail as often as we check email because email is much more accessible and convenient. Also, the near-instantaneous nature of email as compared to traditional mail may generate a stronger need to reply quickly. If you know that your reply would take a couple of weeks to get to its recipient rather than a couple of minutes, waiting an extra day or two to check your mailbox doesn’t seem so bad.

Comment 1
Comment 2

9 WOW and PIU

2007-11-04T18:59:00.000-05:00

PIU stands for Problematic Internet Use and is defined as problematic behavior related to too much time online. This problematic behavior results in academic, professional, and social consequences. PIU is influenced by psychosocial issues within the individual and also the affordances offered by online spaces.

World of Warcraft (or MMO playing in general), which I feel will be a popular topic covered by the class in this assignment, can be a very addicting internet game that is often associated with PIU. In World of Warcraft (WOW) you manipulate an avatar of your choosing in an online world called Azeroth. Within this space, there are guilds and factions (Alliance vs Horde) that divide up the social interaction and drive the in-game group formation as well as conflict. You develop relationships with other players that you meet in the game and complete quests which are mini missions that can be completed to gain experience and receive items.

World of Warcraft can lead to PIU and this is influenced by Caplan’s (2004) list of affordances of internet addiction:

1. Greater anonymity: WOW provides anonymity through the use of an avatar to represent your in-game self. You control how much of yourself others get to know and as a result you can remain as anonymous as you wish to be.

2. Greater control of self-presentation: Briefly alluded to within the previous bullet, was the ability to control how much of yourself you reveal to others. This is especially relevant in that you get to control your own self-presentation. If you want to have brown hair, voluptuous lips, and be a woman, you can be. Or, on a more grounded note, you have time to formulate your responses and think about how your avatar will represent you.

3. More intense and intimate self disclosure: More intense relationships can initially be formed online and this is partially based on your willingness to self-disclose information online to others. Friendships you form online in a game like World of Warcraft can be very influential. When a friend or someone in your guild asks you to stay online to help with a quest, you sometimes may feel obligated or have a real desire, as a friend, to stay and help out. When your online friends need you, especially ones that you have developed intense intimate relationships with due to interaction frequency and common ground (factors from Haythornwaite (2007)), you feel like you need to be there for them.

4. Less perceived social risk: If you are not face to face with an individual, as you would not be in WOW, you worry less about how you present yourself and the perceived risk associated with that presentation.

5. Less social responsibility: Online you are not face to face with an individual and therefore are less obligated/responsible for maintaining that social relationship. This comes back to you being able to choose who you want to be friends with and how good of friends you want to be. If you don’t want to help someone with a quest, you don’t have to. You could always act like you went idle or aren’t there. However, in face to face if someone asked you for help and you stood still and acted like you weren’t there, it wouldn’t be nearly as effective.

Psychosocial factors of an individual that plays an MMO also apply. I have friends that started to play and quit after a month and I have friends that still play and have been playing ever since the game was released. These friends that still play, also do so in an excessive manner. I am sure the internet affordances influence how much they play but another major factor in how much they play are psychosocial factors and a possibly addictive personality.

There are two very funny episodes titled IMAPWNU OF AZEROTH and I <3>

http://www.purepwnage.com/episodes/s1/6/index.html

http://www.purepwnage.com/episodes/s1/11/

My other comments:

Comm 245 Blue: 9 Compulsively checking your email

Comm 245 Blue: #9 - shopbop can't stop!

9- Facebook: The World at Our Fingertips

2007-11-02T22:15:00.000-04:00

The first thing that came to my mind (I am sure I am not alone in this) after reading this assignment was facebook stalking. Facebook.com is a perfect place for people to have problematic internet use due to its vastness. There is SO much to be done on facebook; pictures to look at, walls to posts on, people to “poke”, music to share. The fact that facebook is coming up with more and more applications in mind blowing! The other day on my news feed I saw that someone added the “lax fan” application. When and where did that come from?! Facebook allows people to do a million things at once. When someone signs on, they are instantly bombarded with news about random people and friends, which supposedly should interest them. From there, people can check away messages, check status, and pretty much be kept up to date on everything and anything the person is doing. It is easy to understand why facebook could be a huge catalyst in problematic internet use, due to its accessibility and “all-in-one” feel. Caplan’s model applies to the facebook situation very much. People who have low social competence clearly find it easier to communicate online than in person. Facebook is a safe-haven for these types of people to be themselves and not worry about any face to face interactions. Being on facebook makes them feel less threatened and more comfortable. Feeling this strong way towards facebook (and the internet in general) allows for this problematic internet user to compulsively check and use facebook and be online in general. Caplan’s cycle is caused more by the feelings of loneliness then it is by depression, but these two psychological conditions play a very key role. I strongly believe that facebook is one of the most intense and available online space that causes problematic internet use in student’s our age. Facebook, however, is strongly expanding their user base from just college and high school kids, to now many different aged and kinds of people. Since, like I said earlier, facebook is so accessible and convenient, it makes it easy for people to compulsively use this online space.

Assignment 8.1 - narcolepsy

2007-10-30T09:13:00.000-04:00

IAN LAIKS (blue blog)
BIANCA GHISELLI (blue blog)

For this week’s post, we visited Google’s support group for narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a condition mostly characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness. The site listed hundreds of posts from people discussing their experiences with the diseases. Members also asked questions regarding their symptoms and possible ways to deal with it. My partner and I focused on 20 posts and coded them according to Braithwaite’s five scheme: information (advice, referral…), tangible assistance (perform a direct task, active participation…), esteem support (validation, compliment…), network support (access, presence…), emotional support (understanding, encouragement…), and humor (was there an intent to amuse?).

Overall, we agreed on most of the codes. All the posts we encountered shared the common theme of advice and how to deal with different aspects of narcolepsy. As such, the replies focused on very specific discussion themes and let very little room for code interpretation. This is why our results were so similar and thus our inter-rater reliability was so high (95%).

Although most of our answers were parallel, there were also a few instances where we interpreted the post differently. For example, in message four, the creator of the thread stated that under a certain medication he had become increasingly violent. One of the respondents reacted by saying that under the same prescription he had had become so aggressive that he was surprised he was “…not in prison.” My partner rated this to be 1 under esteem support as the respondent was validating the other’s feelings (anger). I, on the other hand, believed that he was simply stating his emotions and was not either agreeing or disagreeing. After a brief discussion, we decided that the commenter was indeed providing esteem support by confirming that he felt the same way, and thus validating the other’s person’s feelings (violence).

Our results were very indicative of the type of group we chose. Compared to Braithwaite’s data they indicated that people were more willing to provide information (100% vs. Braithwaite’s 31.3%), tangible support and esteem support (10% vs. 2.7% and 35% vs. 18.6% respectively). Also, we showed no network support as opposed to 7.1%. Finally, our study reflected more emotional support (45% vs. 40%).

We attributed these differences to the nature of the subjects discussed. Braithwaite’s study examined disabilities (self-care, mobility, communication, socialization and employment) which are widely known and accepted. Our study, on the other hand, focused on a far less “visible” condition. While in the disability case, people are mostly looking for emotional support, in our case, members felt like online groups were the only place where they could find information and comfort, as everyone else judges them to be simply lazy.

All (100%) of the posts contained some form of information sharing (e.g. “IIRC has been withdrawn in the US and is no longer manufactured.”) Also, very few messages offered tangible assistance (10%). Our guess is that while information sharing is mostly based on giving advice, tangible assistance is a more invested form of help. This is something that far fewer people are willing to give. Next, we found esteem support in a few messages (35%). In our case, this was found mostly in cases where respondents had shared the same experiences and validated some of the poster’s points. Network support was never found in any of our posts. Emotional support, on the other hand, was more frequent (45%). Almost everyone provided advice followed by a few words of comfort to show understanding and sympathy (e.g. “you are far from alone!”). Finally, humor was found in about 30% of the posts. In this case, my partner and I agreed that although jokes might help “lighten up the mood”, the authors might not always know if they are well accepted by the other party.

Our study agreed with Walther’s four dimensions of attraction to online social support groups. First,social distance. Narcolepsy is a rare disease and thus members appreciate the great expertise available in the larger online social network. This relates to our finding as 100% of posts provided information, thus indicating the great amount of advice people seek out and give. Second, anonymity. Whether perceived or real, it increases he ability to avoid embarrassment and judgment (narcoleptic = lazy) and increases confidence in providing support. In this case, members might not be as willing to provide as well as look for emotional support (found in 45% of posts) if they were afraid of others’ opinions. Next, interaction management. Users appreciate the ability to craft messages carefully and to read at their own convenience. In the narcolepsy group, members came from all parts of the world (different time zones) and asked information on medications that were not provided in their country. Finally, access. This 24/7 online support system allows members to read and write messages at any time of the day or night.

1-2
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.narcolepsy/browse_thread/thread/1fa4252d40d64974/b255eb68e1603b03#b255eb68e1603b03
3
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.narcolepsy/browse_thread/thread/cb82eb3e9adf4074/4e8b2d5d44804e3b#4e8b2d5d44804e3b
4
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.narcolepsy/browse_thread/thread/ab1a61f3a0cbfa97/c99167a762306dda#c99167a762306dda
5-11
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.narcolepsy/browse_thread/thread/09e0650c9dcd699b
12-13
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.narcolepsy/browse_thread/thread/b40c03c88bdce72f
14-15
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.narcolepsy/browse_thread/thread/e256d90472ce7d2c
16-17
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.narcolepsy/browse_thread/thread/da19b8d7b0058ad0
18-19
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.narcolepsy/browse_thread/thread/97c0b49e79ee8296/d308fc5cb61f95e4#d308fc5cb61f95e4
20
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.narcolepsy/browse_thread/thread/cb43c99f20b38afc/99ec859a203e6164#99ec859a203e6164

8 "My whole life I have known I should have been born female."

2007-10-30T09:07:00.000-04:00

Danielle Rosenthal (Brown)
Nina Glatthorn (Blue)
Alex Krupp (Blue)

Our own analysis of computer mediated social support was based on the schema of Braithwaite et al. Target messages were taken from the Google Groups interface to the Usenet Newsgroup soc.support.transgendered. The first twenty top-level responses were each examined independently by the three coders and rated on a binary scale for the inclusion of the different support categories. A table summarizing the results of the analysis is shown below.

The concordance factor – the degree to which the coders' analyses were similar - for the sample was .85. Since a significantly high concordance factor indicates a more reliable data set, it is possible to examine the data further. In the twenty messages, there were fourteen (70%) instances of informational support, four instances of esteem support and four instances of emotional support (20% each), and two instances of network support (10%). Within the set there were no instances of tangible assistance or humor.

In terms of the relative frequency of social support categories, our findings were significantly different than those of Braithwaite et al. (p < 0.05). Braithwaite found that emotional support was most common in the messages that she analyzed, while we found information support to be the most prevalent. Braithwaite notes that “information support is most useful and prominent when the recipient can control the situation and put the information to use.” She speculates that emotional support was more prevalent because of the fact that health problems and disabilities are not under the control of the members of the network. In contrast, members of the cross dressing network were often confused about their situation and therefore actively asked fellow group members for advice and information. Another main difference in our data set was that network support was quite rare. Braithwaite speculates that network support was so important to those with disabilities because of the fact that disabilities often constrict social networks. In our situation, the need for social support seemed to be fulfilled by other members of the Google group.

Another possible explanation as to why our analysis yielded different results is the discrepancy in the sample size (n = 20 vs. n = 1472). In order to be validated, our experiment would need to be reproduced over a much larger sample. If such were to occur, it is reasonable to believe that the relative magnitude of support categories would be similar across the two studies, as there are cross-cultural similarities underlying the notion of social support.

Overall the transgendered community has a solid support group. We were surprised. But looking at Walther’s analysis of online support groups, it makes sense. First, Walther is correct about the greater expertise available. Only a very small percentage of people in any given physical community have experience with transgender, so by aggregating expertise the participants gain access to a much richer forum. The asynchronous and distributed nature of Usenet enables a plethora of options for both access and interaction management, another two of Walther’s factors. The benefits here were tangible; our analyses depended on messages from around the world and around the clock.

Perhaps the most important factor though was the anonymity, both perceived and real. The original poster wrote under a pseudonym, which in this case almost certainly increased self-disclosure. (The stranger on the train effect.) This leads to increased self-disclosure in replies, which creates an environment that is more supportive, both intellectually and emotionally.

8 - Where do you hurt?

2007-10-30T08:54:00.000-04:00

Thea Cole (Blue)
Saidu Ezike (Yellow)

For our assignment, we analyzed the content of the alt.support.chronic-pain Google Group. As the title suggests, this group was full of threads pertaining to symptoms, treatments, etc. of medically induced chronic pains. We analyzed a total of seven discussions and 20 threads (of course). Many of the discussions pertained to either complaining about their doctor’s pain treatment or expressing how badly they were feeling pain. One with an Indian doctor even referenced how he felt the Indian system of treatment was different than the American. The others were those asking for specific medical advice for the “physical maladies” they had. The following are our tabulated results:

As a whole, with the exception of a statistically insignificant 10 percent difference in emotional support, our results do not align with Braithwaite’s. We feel this difference has a great deal to do with the choice of support group we chose. The posts in our group were a little more medical specific than those chosen by Braithwaite. Also, the sample Braithwaite chose was much larger than ours and with a larger sample, our results would have aligned a little more. On top of that, we defined “disability” regarding our study as those who had pain/physical/medical disabilities. Braithwaite highlighted the behavioral, economic and social effects of Crewe and Athelstan’s (1985) definition of disability as affecting one or more "key life functions:" self-care, mobility, communication, socialization, and employment. Chances are that, if we had surfaced all five key life functions, our results would have been similar.

In addition, since the messages in the support groups were transmitted via e-mail rather than a thread in a group, our theory is that the responders had more time to think of and use diction that would really give the person what they wanted to hear as opposed to simply typing their advice along with their emotions away. Judging by the misspellings, the haphazardness of [some of] the threads and the feeling of a more conversational environment, we feel that threads are a little more rich medium than e-mail and therefore, more ambiguous and emotion detectable (Media Richness theory). Also, since this study was done about eight years ago, we feel that people express their emotions slightly different in CMC. For example, on AIM, we went from simple acronyms like LOL in ‘99 to LMMFAO in ’07 (Yes, someone actually has used that in an AIM conversation before believe it or not).

In terms of information, our results were 48.7% higher than those of Braithwaite. This may be correlated to the fact that this Google Group was one where specific questions about physical maladies were posed and the most effective way to answer them was to give informational support.
In terms of tangible assistance, our results were 17.5% higher than those of Braithwaite. Once again, this is likely correlated with the fact the questions asked for specific advice and steps and if one disregarded giving tangible assistance, they simply would not be answering the question. For example, people asked “what should I do” type questions and it would be of no help if someone simply showed emotional support and disregarded the tangible assistance.
In terms of Esteem support, our results were 21.4% higher than those of Braithwaite. Referring the media richness point made in the third paragraph, since people are more likely to express their emotions in this ‘perceived-richer’ medium of google threads, we feel it is easier to detect esteem support since these answers are a little less “professional” than those that would be received in e-mails (especially eight years ago).
In terms of Network Support, we had no instances and Braithwaite had 7.1% of his sample have network support. This difference is likely due to our choice of group. If we were in a “my computer has a disability!” group of if our group had messages that “appeared to broaden the recipient's social network, by connecting him or her to others with similar interests or situations, including access, presence, and companions” (p.135) then we would have had some instances of network support.
Finally, in terms of Emotional support, our results were 10% higher than those of Braithwaite. This is likely due to the media richness point made in the third paragraph of this post as well as the Esteem support post. We do, however, feel the reason that this percentage difference is less than Esteem support is because, often times, one is inclined and even obliged to give someone emotional support when they are feeling disable, in pain or depressed. We feel that the person’s human nature factor outweighs the medium of communication.

Our Thread Links:

8 - "But what if I don't want kids?"

2007-10-30T07:59:00.000-04:00

Milan Allen (blue)
Soyong Lee (green)
Ellis Weng (brown)

We selected and analyzed twenty messaged from a thread on alt.support.childfree under Google groups - a “childless by choice” support forum - according to a scheme devised by Braithwaite et al. We focused on the responses following a post written by “Annie” who was debating whether or not to have a child and remain single, and numerically coded them according to six factors:

• Information: the exchange of advice or knowledge of some kind.
• Tangible assistance: aid offered in a very specific way, such as loaned money.
• Esteem support: relief of blame, affirmation/validation of the user’s situation.
• Network support: referral to others that can provide additional support.
• Emotional support: sympathy, empathy, and encouragement.
• Humor: aspect of a message intended to entertain (not part of the original study but shown below).

Our results ranked information highest (60% of the messages), then emotional support, and humor (both 55%), esteem support (40%) and lastly, network support (15%).We found no tangible assistance. Our results compliment Braithwaite’s study, since she found that information, emotional, and esteem support occur with the highest degree of frequency and tangible assistance tends to occur the least; however, her study yielded the highest in the emotional support category instead of information. The difference in the specific numbers can possibly be attributed to a difference in the central focus of the support forums analyzed. Braithwaite et al. focused on Usenet groups for individuals with physical disabilities; living with physical limitations is not uncommon and there is a wealth of information and resources available online. Remaining “childfree,” however, is more of a social issue and therefore the content and tone of each message was radically different. Most of the members are female who dislike children in general, and feel pressured by society to conform to what they perceive as a “mandatory parenting” standard. The posters always sought to inform, but had very set opinions on the subject so they did less supporting and more arguing than was probably intended. Braithwaite didn’t code for humor, but recognized its importance within the groups in her experiment. A couple of the messages we analyzed were sarcastic and spontaneous one-liners posted solely with the intent to amuse, often at another group member’s expense. The absolute lack of tangible assistance is unsurprising given the subject matter and the fact that online spaces do not usually lend themselves to this type of support.

We also found our inter-rated reliability to be 71%, which is slightly above what could be considered “chance” agreement but questionable in terms of statistical significance. We examined this further in an attempt to figure out why our agreement was so low. Working in a group of three caused our inter-rater reliability to be relatively lower than a group of two. In our situation, all three of us had to come to a general consensus to be able to mark “agree.” After analyzing our results, we found that our coding was affected by many factors: our own biases, the type of support, and the length of the message. Our own biases and our individual personalities caused us to judge the message differently. For example, Milan and Ellis found twice as many posts to be humorous because their sense of humor tends to be more sarcastic. The definition of humor can also cause differences in coding because humor is subjective; something can be funny to one person but not to another person. The same goes for information in our topic. What exactly qualifies as “information” when it comes to deciding whether or not to have a child? Because of these vague definitions, humor and information were the least agreed on between the three of us.

Another factor that we found to play a large role in our coding disagreement was the length of a post.

Originally, we noticed that we agreed more when the post was very lengthy. We thought that there might be a direct correlation between agreeability and the length of a post. After counting every word in each of the post and the number of supports that we agreed on in each of the posts, we found that there is not a direct correlation. Instead, we found that it was harder to code posts that were between 20-180 words. Shorter posts, less than 20 words, were actually really easy to code because they usually contained no support whatsoever. The length of a message and the vagueness of a definition of support both played roles in determining our agreeability.

Walther & Boyd's Social Support Theory found four dimensions of attraction involved in online support behavior which were clearly identifiable in our analysis:

• Social distance: the nature of the internet allows for a wide-range of individuals with varying opinions and levels of expertise to interact. The general consensus is that remaining childfree is not something most people would be comfortable discussing with their “breeder” acquaintances since the latter would not be able to understand their position.

• Anonymity: the original poster and those that replied felt comfortable airing their opinions, concerns, and personal anecdotes without fear of negative social consequences due to the relative anonymity provided in online spaces. The affects of anonymity on self-disclosure is a recurrent theme in online social interaction; an increase of the former invariably leads to an increase in the latter. Given that, it can be surmised that the members considered themselves to be mostly anonymous considering they often referenced their work or personal lives.

• Interaction management: Users are able to take as much time as they require to script and edit their responses in CmC which allows for a greater degree of control over what they choose to express. This is also one of the benefits of an online support forum since in FtF interactions one usually doesn’t have as much time to compose their thoughts and words before speaking. Google groups are unique in the sense that they offer “timed” messages – a poster can choose the amount of time that will lapse before their message is automatically deleted from the server. In this way, users control how long others have access to their responses and information (this also ties into anonymity).

• Access: threads are always accessible and users are free to create new ones/reply to old ones whenever they feel it necessary.

8: Social Support for Polygomy

2007-10-30T07:18:00.000-04:00

Members: Lina Lee (Blue), Jennifer Yao (Purple)

Description
The study conducted by Braithwaite, Waldron, and Finn documented types and the extent of social support messages exchanged by people with disabilities in a computer-based support group. To determine whether the patterns that were found are generalizable to other groups, we coded 20 postings from a thread that discussed a male who is concerned with dating someone who practices polygamy by focusing on the following six forms of supportive behaviors.
Information Support
Messages that convey instructions such as a) advice, b) referrals to experts, c) situational appraisal and d) teaching.

Tangible Assistance
Offers that lend physical action such as a) performing a direct task, b) active participation and c) expressing willingness.

Network Support
Messages that appear to broaden the recipient’s social network, by “connecting him or her to others with similar interests or situations.”

Esteem Support
Messages that validate the recipient’s “self-concept, importance, competence, and rights as a person.”

Emotional Support
Messages that include attempts by the sender to express sympathy, support and emotional expressions.

*Humor (not included in Braithwaite et. study)
Messages that are intended to amuse including jokes, sarcasm, and irony.


% inter-rater reliability	0.825
	frequency	% of msgs
Information	16	70%
Tangible assistance	0	0%
Esteem support	6	30%
Network support	0	0%
Emotional support	18	50%
Humor	5	25%

Results and Analysis
Based on the analysis of the coding data, inter-rater reliability came out to .825, which is above the chance agreement (.70). This means that agreement on the six forms of supportive behaviors was not by chance and therefore, statistically significant.

The results of our study indicate that in general certain types of mediated social support are more often exchanged than others but the differences between Braithwaite et al. and ours imply that some forms of support used in discussions about relationships compared to messages concerning disabilities are relatively unique.
Unlike Braithwaite et al., information messages were the most frequently found, constituting 70% of total support messages, whereas Braithwaite et al. noted emotional support to be the most prominent. This may be because emotional support is more likely given when the recipient is experiencing distressful circumstances that are not controllable while informational support will be more useful to the male who can choose whether or not to date one who practices polygamy.

Network support was more prominent in messages concerning disabilities (7.1%) than in our study (0%). Network support was high for people with disabilities because due to their physical limitations they cannot find network support ftf as they would online and so it is a highly valued support. The reason why we found 0% is because sexual orientation is less visible and not really talked about and so it may be difficult to even know someone who is polygamous.

Similar to Braithwaite et al, that found a small frequency percentage for tangible assistance (0%). Similar to Braithwaite et al., tangible assistance was least commonly used. Given the lack of physical proximity, offering tangible support is difficult

Unlike Braithwaite et al., we included humor, which came in fourth constituting 25% of the messages. Humor may have been found because people perceive relationship issues as less serious and sensitive and therefore are more likely to include jokes.

Connecting to Theories

According to Wallace, an increased number of people result in reduced helping behavior due to individuals having decreased "noticeability" as well as diffusion of responsibility. This theory contrasts with Walther and Boyd which states that individuals are more prone to social support online. Based on the social support thread based on polygamy, Walther and Boyd were correct. Walther and Boyd's four dimensions were identifiable in the thread; the relevancy is as follows:

1. social distance: The creator of the thread stated that he had never talked to anyone about his own concerns in being with someone who practices polygamy. The social distance of the Google groups mostly likely served as a comfort because it does not require physical interaction.

2. anonymity: Anonymity allowed him to divulge his concerns while those who supported him divulged personal situations as well without fear of embarrassment.

3. interaction management. Users were able to edit their responses and take more time responding, which allows for users to have more control over what they say.

4. access: The thread is available 24/7, which allows the user able read support and advice whenever desired.

Thread:

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.polyamory/browse_thread/thread/92ea08584de4fd15/06458f640e99c248#06458f640e99c248