#12: What Does the Future Hold?

I really enjoyed taking Psychology of Social Computing because I found that the theories covered in class applied to me and my use of the Internet. The hyperpersonal model is a theory that will always be prevalent on the Internet. Intensification loops certainly occur as people undergo self-presentation and over-attribution. As long as people continue to self-present online, the hyperpersonal model will come into play. SIDE is another theory that will remain important in the future. Whether online or offline, people tend to group people into social categories. Since grouping others into social categories is a part of human nature, it is a behavior that will always be present online, even if people are only given a few cues about a person. Also, people have a need to feel like they belong to a group, which is why the deindividuation part of SIDE theory will also remain prevalent. In both the real and virtual worlds, people will conform to norms in order to feel like they are a part of a bigger group. The hyperpersonal model and SIDE will continue to be relevant in the future because they focus on aspects of human nature.

One theory that may be less influential in the future is SIP. CMC continues to develop and become richer. Some richer modes of communication fail to become popular, but others may eventually become widespread. For example, video chatting is becoming increasingly popular. Today, most people use it to talk to people that they already know FtF. However, in the future, people may use video chatting to meet new people and get to know others better. With so many visual cues available, it will no longer necessary to adapt cues to the verbal channel. Cues will be immediate and plentiful. Thus, impression formation may be able to develop as quickly through CMC as it does FtF, making SIP obsolete.

One issue that will need to be addressed in the future is the expansion of media on the Internet. Websites that broadcast TV shows and movies illegally have caused many problems. The government has caught some violators of copyright laws, but often, illegal media sites are so popular that it is difficult to identify all the people who use them. Illegal downloading of music, TV shows, and movies is a similar issue that must be addressed. Even media that is legally broadcast online has caused problems. Right now, the Writers’ Guild of America is on strike as a result of problems with legal online broadcasts. Many popular TV shows are shown on TV network sites, but writers do not receive residuals from these online broadcasts. Instead, TV networks receive all the profits from online broadcasting. Writers are on strike now in order to demand a share of profit from online broadcasting. As the writers’ strike demonstrates, it has been difficult to keep with the rapid expansion of Internet media. Policies and procedures must continually be updated in order to monitor online media. All these issues with online media demonstrate that online media is a big force on the Internet.

I was surprised that the class did not cover pornography. Pornography is incredibly prevalent online and is hard to avoid if one uses the Internet frequently. Issues like problematic Internet use certainly come into play when people are “addicted” to pornography online. With online pornography, there exist ideas about gender roles and masochism, which connect to psychology. I understand that pornography may not be as relevant as other Internet topics in a class about "social computing." Still, as a class focused on the psychology of the Internet in general, it seems that pornography should at least be mentioned.