Jhalkias
<font color=darkgreen>DIS Geek<br><font color=indi
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2001
- Messages
- 8,501
This posted on a tech newsletter that I get . . . "Good Morning Silicon Valley" . . .
No, you can't check your BlackBerry -- this is an intervention, dammit! The headlines are all referring to "Net addiction," but that's just a convenient shorthand for what Stanford's new nationwide study of Internet use found: Between 6 and 14 percent of computer users in the study showed signs of compulsive behavior online. "We worry when people use virtual interactions to substitute for real social interactions -- and seeing their real relationships suffer, as a result," said psychiatrist Elias Aboujaoude, leader of the research team. "Sneaking out of bed, once your partner is asleep, to go online. Missing deadline after deadline at work, while visiting chat rooms. And when you cut back, feeling irritable, anxious or restless. Those are red flags." If you had to put a clinical label on it right now, Aboujaoude said, "impulse control disorder" would probably be closer than "addiction." And while some characteristics of the Net happen to be attractive to people in a vulnerable state (Aboujaoude cites immediacy, a sense of connection and anonymity), it's not like the Net foists its addictive qualities on unsuspecting victims ... with one possible exception. Some massive multiplayer games, says psychologist and computer engineer Kenneth Woog, "are deliberately designed to be addicting. ... They're very compelling. You do something and get a reward. With enough rewards, you start to feel good about yourself. And you're part of a team of people on a common quest.'' And because such games operate on subscriptions, the most addicting games are the most lucrative for companies, he said.
Timely testimony to that effect showed up yesterday in a post by an anonymous online warrior who quit at the top of his game, that game being World of Warcraft: "I just left WoW permanently. I was a leader in one of the largest and most respected guilds in the world, a well-equipped and well-versed mage, and considered myself to have many close friends in my guild. Why did I leave? Simple: Blizzard has created an alternate universe where we don't have to be ourselves when we don't want to be. From my vantage point as a guild decision maker, I've seen it destroy more families and friendships and take a huge toll on individuals than any drug on the market today, and that means a lot coming from an ex-club DJ." That grenade set off some vigorous commenting from the troops, both sympathetic ("I hear you loud and clear - I damn near lost my degree, and did lose the best girl that ever happened to me, as a result of an MMORPG. I look back now and want to cry at the futility of it all -- what the bloody hell was I doing?") and scornful ("Your argument is completely flawed; it's like saying you can't win alcohol. You're not supposed to win it, your supposed to play it."). But the retired warrior reiterated that he wasn't blaming the game. "I did realize, eventually, that I was letting the game get the best of me and also was acting as a 'drug dealer' or enabler for those around me who it was also hurting. I didn't want to do that to myself anymore or to others I considered friends."
Wait until he hears about the DIS!
John1
No, you can't check your BlackBerry -- this is an intervention, dammit! The headlines are all referring to "Net addiction," but that's just a convenient shorthand for what Stanford's new nationwide study of Internet use found: Between 6 and 14 percent of computer users in the study showed signs of compulsive behavior online. "We worry when people use virtual interactions to substitute for real social interactions -- and seeing their real relationships suffer, as a result," said psychiatrist Elias Aboujaoude, leader of the research team. "Sneaking out of bed, once your partner is asleep, to go online. Missing deadline after deadline at work, while visiting chat rooms. And when you cut back, feeling irritable, anxious or restless. Those are red flags." If you had to put a clinical label on it right now, Aboujaoude said, "impulse control disorder" would probably be closer than "addiction." And while some characteristics of the Net happen to be attractive to people in a vulnerable state (Aboujaoude cites immediacy, a sense of connection and anonymity), it's not like the Net foists its addictive qualities on unsuspecting victims ... with one possible exception. Some massive multiplayer games, says psychologist and computer engineer Kenneth Woog, "are deliberately designed to be addicting. ... They're very compelling. You do something and get a reward. With enough rewards, you start to feel good about yourself. And you're part of a team of people on a common quest.'' And because such games operate on subscriptions, the most addicting games are the most lucrative for companies, he said.
Timely testimony to that effect showed up yesterday in a post by an anonymous online warrior who quit at the top of his game, that game being World of Warcraft: "I just left WoW permanently. I was a leader in one of the largest and most respected guilds in the world, a well-equipped and well-versed mage, and considered myself to have many close friends in my guild. Why did I leave? Simple: Blizzard has created an alternate universe where we don't have to be ourselves when we don't want to be. From my vantage point as a guild decision maker, I've seen it destroy more families and friendships and take a huge toll on individuals than any drug on the market today, and that means a lot coming from an ex-club DJ." That grenade set off some vigorous commenting from the troops, both sympathetic ("I hear you loud and clear - I damn near lost my degree, and did lose the best girl that ever happened to me, as a result of an MMORPG. I look back now and want to cry at the futility of it all -- what the bloody hell was I doing?") and scornful ("Your argument is completely flawed; it's like saying you can't win alcohol. You're not supposed to win it, your supposed to play it."). But the retired warrior reiterated that he wasn't blaming the game. "I did realize, eventually, that I was letting the game get the best of me and also was acting as a 'drug dealer' or enabler for those around me who it was also hurting. I didn't want to do that to myself anymore or to others I considered friends."
Wait until he hears about the DIS!
John1
DH also grew up in PA....in the Poconos.
- the PA Dutch Way) for our halloween party!!!! I even make the noodles from scratch!!!!
