The internet is a very unique environment with multiple unique spaces throughout the net and many of these spaces have been very helpful for many individuals. However, many of these spaces also have certain elements that can cause certain individuals to develop problematic internet use (PIU). One of these internet spaces is the photo application on Facebook. This application allows individuals to upload and tag photos into albums on their profile. Then, individuals’ friends can make comments on the photos that have been uploaded.
The photo application can be addictive because it can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There also is not limit to the number of photos that you can load onto your profile (except for a 60 photo limit per album). This application also allows for a great deal of selective self-presentation because each individual can choose to upload photos that reflect how they want to be perceived from their Facebook profile and leave off pictures that would hurt this image. This can often cause individuals to want to constantly be looking through their hundreds of photos to ensure that the image they want to portray is being portrayed.
The application also allows individuals to “bask in reflective glories” by uploading photos with friends that they want to be associated with. This not only aids in their selected self-presentation, but also allows them to help build and strengthen their real life relationships. If someone is feeling depressed or lonely, they can log into Facebook and look through their photos to remember times in the past when they weren’t in a depressed mood. Also, by commenting on photos you help to build relationships by showing that you look and like your friends’ photos. If someone doesn’t have a lot of social relationships they may come to rely heavily on these online ways of communicating.
Caplan’s model of Problematic Internet Use and Psychological Well-Being does fit the Facebook photo application. As mentioned before, people who are depressed or lonely (a psychosocial problem) will have a lower social competence. Then, these depressed and/or lonely individuals who prefer to interact online will find the internet to be a less threatening place to interact, in this case because they can easily manage the self that they present. This will then cause them the excessively and compulsively use the internet, leading to negative outcomes such as damaged social relationships, which restarts the whole cycle of problematic internet use.
One thing that is especially unique about this space though is that it can also cause problematic internet use in someone who does not necessarily have a psychosocial problem, but are in long distance relationships. For example, one of my friends from the NYCKI Board that I wrote about in my blog on online communities loves to tag photos on Facebook and comment excessively on them. He’s great at interacting with people and does not have a psychosocial problem, but because this community that he is heavily invested in is spread out, his use of the photo application becomes excessive because he sees it as a way to interact with the other members of the community while we are not in the same physical space. Just this past weekend, he has already commented on well over 50 photos of other members of the NYCKI board and uploaded 2 albums worth, all within just 24 hours.
Comments:
http://comm245green.blogspot.com/2007/11/8-google-image-labeleraka-google-time.html
http://comm245green.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-9-warcraft-widows.html
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hi, I like your post very much, I think you illustrate all the points clearly. And I like the last part,that long distance produces problematice internet use. I take it as a new point extending from what we learned from class. And personally, I really have experience of this. As i transfered to Cornell this fall, I am apart from my previous now. And the only why we can contact is through Internet. I really find myself useing internet communication tools more often, like MSN, instant message, facebook, www.xiaonei.com, and I really do the same as you say, commnad a lot a lot. So I think it is a great creative point.
Nice post and awesome topic. It is crazy how much people spend uploading photos and comments. I think it is the funniest when you literally get home from a night of partying and already see that one of your friends has posted the nights events. You can reminisce about what occurred hours, or even minutes, ago. I actually use this photo application as a means to judge and form impression of people over Facebook. If a girl or guy has over a certain number of photos which I deem obnoxious, I brand the individual as an a**. But that’s just me. I apologize to all of you with 799 photos.
Nice post. I liked how you connected this assignement to previous topics like BIRG. The photo application can feel pretty addictive at times. Especially when people have a lot of photos and you really only want to see a few of them; but then you feel compelled to go through all of them. You just can't stop clicking! It being available 24/7 also a strong contributer to its problematic use.
Hey Mike, great post man. Love the connection to other theories such as BIRG. I definitely agree that this whole "who can have the most pictures" is an addictive activity. I know I definitely feel more popular which each tag in a photo I have, and I'm sure alot of other people feel the same way. It kind of makes you beg the question though, how are people in long distance relationships evaluated? Like pictures might be their only means of observing each other's life while they are apart. Is it considered an addiction when there is a spoken attraction between both people? But aside that, awesome post.
Post a Comment