The Psychology of the Internet

It is a giddy thought to think how much as happened with the Internet since the first edition of this comprehensive book in 1999. The approach is research-based and provides fascinating insights into our online behaviour while encouraging critical thought about the Internet and its development. The various chapters cover the new psychology of impression formation (your online persona), group dynamics, online aggression, the psychology of interpersonal attraction, altruism, online gaming, child development, gender and sexuality, privacy and surveillance as well as addictive properties. The author asks if there has been an increase narcissism, citing calls to self-focused action in Facebook and Google plus. Personality types also play a role whether on an individual or group basis. A 2010 study of 2000 generation M2 children and adolescents found that average total media use was more than 7 1/2 hours a day, an increase of 20% from five years earlier. If multitasking and multi-screening are factored in, then the figure jumped to 10 hours 45 minutes.

This raises the possibility, discussed in Chapter 11, that we are almost constantly online with the emergence of a 24/7 working week. This makes it hard to achieve so-called work/life balance involving managing blurred boundaries and spillover into personal life. There is a good discussion on the prevalence of Internet addiction. It turns out that, according to one US survey, one third of teens and young adults check Facebook at least every 15 minutes – and a Taiwanese tourist visiting Melbourne walked right off the pier while checking her Facebook app; the rescue was complicated by her trying to swim while holding her phone above the water! Apparently a key factor is FOMO – fear of missing out – and those with high scores spend more time trying to stay connected. As for the future, there will surely be surprises in store but overall developments are likely to continue to reflect positive and negative aspects of human nature.