For this assignment, I was trying to think of an internet space that may be of problematic use to me. I thought of, at first, my obsession with the Netflix online movies, and even online shopping, but I take advantage of these mostly because of their convenience and ease. Really the only other online space that I use in a problematic way is Facebook. While I, for the most part, abuse Facebook in a way that is more consistent with Wallace's operant conditioning perspective, it is easy to see how abusive use of Facebook could lead to PIU and align with Caplan's model, because all of the affordances of internet interaction apply.
While we all Facebook stalk more than we should as a means of essentially procrastinating and killing time, I think our use of Facebook at the introduction to the Cornell community could be well applied to Caplan's model, because when you enter a new community where you don't really know anyone, you are much more vulnerable, and you desire more control and put much more attention and care in (similar to Wallace's "newbie" perspective). When we first come to Cornell, and perhaps first acquire Facebook (as I did within my first few months here), we are quite vulnerable because not only are we new to the Cornell community, but we are also new to the Facebook community, and our social activity within the Cornell community is put on display on the Facebook community, and there is therefore a lot of pressure to build up a social life. However, the pressure is almost greater to build up an impressive social life on Facebook rather than in real-life FtF, simply because Facebook is easy for everyone to access and scrutinize, and it is also much easier to fake a blossoming social life on Facebook simply by friending as many people as you possibly can, and posting on as many walls as possible, etc.
So because of this initial vulnerability that comes along with being a newcomer to the Facebook (and Cornell) community, this can also contribute to the psychosocial problem of feeling lonely and therefore having perceived low social competence which Caplan identifies as leading to a preference for internet interaction rather than FtF interactions, and because of the affordances of internet interaction that Caplan identifies, the online interactions seem less threatening than FtF interactions, and this can lead to excessive and compulsive online interaction that can detract from real interactions at school. These "affordances of internet interaction" that Caplan identifies are greater anonymity, greater control over self-presentation, more intense and intimate self-disclosure, less perceived social risk, and less social responsibility.
First of all, there is greater anonymity in Facebook because although you may have a profile that identifies your personal information, the majority of time people spend on Facebook is spent wasting time stalking other people, which is done completely anonymously--no one knows who is Facebook stalking who or when. Second, there is obviously greater control over self-presentation on facebook because you can control your profile, carefully craft the information that you disclose and present, tag or untag photos, write on walls, delete unwanted wall comments, adjust privacy settings, etc., until you have your have presented what may be close to your ideal self, which may also be the first impression that someone gets of you. Also, Facebook can allow for more intense and intimate self-disclosure, because people will often post very intimate poetry, thoughts, or feelings in their profile because they don't have to face the way that someone will react to it, and people can also post very intimate inside jokes on other people's walls, and this can all be done very carefully so that intimate information may be disclosed, but not without being carefully thought out and controlled. There is also less perceived social risk on Facebook because you can stalk other people, friend other people, untag photos, and completely control what people are allowed to see in your profile so that they may only be able to see your best photos, and they'll never know who didn't accept your friend request, and who you stalk by the secrecy of your own computer screen all day long. Finally, there is also less social responsibility on facebook, because although there are standards of use (i.e. wall-to-wall reciprocation is considered standard), the responsibilities are much less on facebook because the tasks of accepting friendships, returning wall posts, tagging photos are quite easy and effortless, and are much easier to do on your own terms, rather than, for example, meeting someone for lunch everyday to declare a friendship.
However, because of these affordances, it can be so easy to create and maintain an active social life on Facebook, much more so than maintaining and active FtF social life, and so this, on top of the initial loneliness of perceived low social competence of being new to the Facebook community can easily lead to PIU because it requires little, it can be done on your own terms, and you can create a vivid social life online without even having much of a social life offline, which is so beneficial because it is the online social life that everyone spends so much time stalking anyway. So while Facebook and its easy stalking capabilities don't necessarily have to be problematic, it's properties and affordances lend very easily to a downward spiral of PIU that can cycle and reinforce itself quite dangerously.
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Great comprehensive blog, I loved it! I was also going to bring up the fact that Facebook definitely has a "newbie" factor. The first time I created my facebook account, I went all out trying to fill in every slot in the "about me" section perfectly. I wanted to "self present" myself in the best possible manner. I created paragraphs of interesting banter that would make anyone who read my profile want to be my friend. In essence, I was obsessed with facebook and all of its features when I first got an account, and after a few months it had lost some (not all) of its appeal. You did a great job capturing facebook as an example of problematic internet use.
Nice post. I have often wondered why, for some, there is that initial rush or perhaps need to friend a ton of people at the early stages of college, or any new ftf gathering. When a summer program begins, camp, join a new club, and, as we likely all experienced, begin our freshman year at college, the friend requests increase exponentially. Now, of course this is flattering, but it does seem a bit odd. I believe your assessment of how Caplan’s model fits into some of the Facebook phenomenon is valid. The only think I may disagree with is that I do not believe this Facebook phenomenon is a cycle. Or perhaps it is a short one. After some time, the freshman “Facebook-ing strategies” seem to subside. People are no longer lonely and they have begun to feel more comfortable in this new environment. Really interesting post!
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