Monday, November 5, 2007

Assignment 9 - Stock Prices and Problematic Internet Usage

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.


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1 comment:

kathryn dewey said...

I didnt know much about this topic and so it was interesting to read your blog. A way that Caplan's theory might be able to relate more to this PIU of stock price checking is if people go into "groups" (chat rooms) online to talk about the stock market while they watch the prices change. I have no idea if this already exists or not, but there could be a place where people can go to talk about their recent trades, buys or sells? People might want to keep their money personal and private, but if they need help or want to share some great news (or advice!), the online group chat could be the place to do it. Just a thought...