Does Internet and computer 'addiction' exist? Some case study evidence

It has been alleged that social pathologies are beginning to surface in cyberspace (i.e., technological addictions). To date, there is very little empirical evidence that computing activities (i.e., internet use, hacking, programming) are addictive. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the typical “addict” is a teenager, usually male, with little or no social life, and little or no self-confidence. This article concentrates on five case studies of excessive computer usage. It is argued that of the five cases, only two of them describe “addicted” subjects. Addiction components criteria were used in the assessment. The excessive usage in the majority of cases was purely symptomatic and was highlighted how the subjects used the Internet/computer to counteract other deficiencies

Vortex of the Web. Potentials of the online environment

This volume compiles international contributions that explore the potential risks and chances coming along with the wide-scale migration of society into digital space. Suggesting a shift of paradigm from Spiral of Silence to Nexus of Noise, the opening chapter provides an overview on systematic approaches and mechanisms of manipulation – ranging from populist political players to Cambridge Analytica. After a discussion of the the juxtaposition effects of social media use on social environments, the efficient instrumentalization of Twitter by Turkish politicans in the course of the US-decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is being analyzed. Following a case study of Instagram, Black Lives Matter and racism is a research about the impact of online pornography on the academic performance of university students. Another chapter is pointing out the potential of online tools for the successful relaunch of shadow brands. The closing section of the book deals with the role of social media on the opinion formation about the Euromaidan movement during the Ukrainian revolution and offers a comparative study touching on Russian and Western depictions of political documentaries in the 2000s

Personality traits related to problematic Facebook use

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) encouraged research in the area of Internet Gaming Disorder, by including it in the Conditions for Further Study section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , 5th Edition (DSM-5; APA, 2013). The present study attempted to determine which personality traits were associated with problematic Facebook use, a subset of problematic Internet use. The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS), Narcissistic Personality Inventory-Sixteen (NPI-16), International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) items related to extraversion, IPIP items related to neuroticism, Internet Addiction Test (1AT), Facebook Intensity Scale (FBI), a demographic information form, and Exploratory Facebook Use Questionnaire were used to determine if specific personality traits were associated with problematic Facebook use. Participants were 295 Facebook users, recruited through social media. Participants reported more Facebook friends and the average participant age was over a decade older than in prior studies. The average number of hours spent on Facebook per day was similar to previous research. Females reported having significantly more Facebook friends and yielded significantly lower scores on personality measures than males. On the three measures of problematic Facebook use, results were mixed. Females produced lower scores than males on two measures and higher scores on a third measure. Additionally, results suggest narcissism, extraversion, and neuroticism predict problematic Facebook use in males, but not females. Higher levels of narcissism and extroversion were found to be associated with higher scores on measures of problematic Facebook use. Additionally, neuroticism and extraversion were significant positive predictors of problematic Facebook use. Positive endorsement of Exploratory Facebook Use Questions was associated with higher scores on two measures of problematic Facebook use. Lastly, participants with higher problematic Internet use also reported higher levels of problematic Facebook use. Continued research is needed to understand better the full nature of problematic Internet and/or subsets (i.e., problematic Facebook use)

Differences between computer-mediated and face-to-face romantic relationships: A qualitative investigation into the allures and drawbacks of the two types of relationships.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the assumptions, beliefs, perspectives, and behaviors of people who have engaged in romantic online relationships. Ten college students (five females and five males) from a public university in a southwestern state participated in this research study. Themes that emerged from the participants' stories relate to physical attraction, convenience, anonymity, ease, and depth of online communication, commitment, intimacy, and duration of romantic online relationships, trust, misrepresentation online, effects on academic performance and existing relationships, conflicts, selection of the fittest, intellectual and emotional intelligence, and lessons learned

MOTIVATIONS FOR SOCIAL NETWORK SITE (SNS) GAMING: A USES AND GRATIFICATION & FLOW PERSPECTIVE

The penetration of the internet, smart-phones and tablets has witnessed tremendous increase in the number of people playing online games in the past few years. Social networking site (SNS) games are a subset of digital games. They are platform based, multiplayer and reveal the real identity of the player. These games are hosted on social networks such as Facebook, where in people play with many other players online. The risks associated with social network gaming are addiction, theft, fraud, loneliness, anxiety, aggression, poor academic performance, cognition distortion etc. This study aims to understand the user motivations to continue to play social networking games and spread a word of mouth for these games. To understand this phenomenon, Uses and Gratification theory (U&G) along with flow and immersion have been considered as the antecedents. A total of 242 respondents comprising of 125 participants who play social networking games and 117 participants who do not play social networking games completed the survey. This aided in understanding the participants’ motivations and inhibitions towards playing social networking games. The present findings indicate that gratifications, flow and immersion are significantly related to the continuance motivation, which in turn is significantly related to word of mouth

Does Gaming Create Partner Agro Online Gamings Impact on Partner Intimacy

This study explored the impact online gaming has on a couples relational intimacy. Gaming has become one of the most popular entertainment Medias in the United States with forty-six percent of American homes having a gaming counsel (Nielsen, 2013). Some of these games are online and gameplay cannot be interrupted and takes up much of the user’s time. Therefore, this study set out to discover if this time commitment had an impact on a relationship’s intimacy levels. This study used data that had been collected in a previous study and reanalyzed it looking for any correlations between the amount of time spent gaming by either partner and the amount of intimacy reported using both the Miller Social Intimacy Scale (MSIS) and Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships (PAIR). To discover the correlations both a linear regression and a quadratic regression were used. Results from the tests found that the correlations varied dependent on which regression analysis was used with both having contradictory results. The quadratic regression showing a positive correlation and the linear regression showing a negative correlation

In Defense of the Internet: The Relationship between Internet Communication and Depression, Loneliness, Self-Esteem, and Perceived Social Support

As more people connect to the Internet, researchers are beginning to examine the effects of Internet use on users' psychological health. Due in part to a study released by Kraut and colleagues in 1998, which concluded that Internet use is positively correlated with depression, loneliness, and stress, public opinion about the Internet has been decidedly negative. In contrast, the present study was designed to test the hypothesis that Internet usage can affect users beneficially. Participants engaged in five chat sessions with an anonymous partner. At three different intervals they were administered scales measuring depression, loneliness, self-esteem, and social support. Changes in their scores were tracked over time. Internet use was found to decrease loneliness and depression significantly, while perceived social support and self-esteem increased significantly.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63277/1/109493102753770552.pd

Testing the validity and reliability of the cyber bullying scale

The purpose of this study is to test the construct validity and reliability on the cyber bullying scale and test the forms and indicators that can construct the cyber bullying variable. Cyber bullying is measured in seven forms, such as flaming, harassment, denigration, impersonation, outing and trickery, cyberstalking, and exclusion. The populations in this study were eleventh-grade students in Vocational High Schools X, Y, and Z in Yogyakarta, with a total of 505 students. The sample in this study amounted to 100 students. The sampling technique uses cluster random sampling. The data collection method uses the cyber bullying scale. Research data were analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) through the Smart PLS 3.2.8 program. Based on the results of data analysis, the forms and indicators that construct the cyber bullying variable are declared valid and reliable. The most dominant form that reflects cyber bullying is harassment, with a factor loading of 0.914. While the weakest form that reflects cyber bullying is cyberstalking with a factor loading value of 0.566. These results indicate that all forms and indicators are able to reflect and build cyber bullying variables. Thus, the measurement model can be accepted because the theory that describes cyber bullying variables fit with empirical data obtained from the subject

The who, how and why of Facebook use : the relationship between level of use and the big five personality traits

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits and level of Facebook use. It was hypothesized that certain personality characteristics such as extraversion and low levels of conscientiousness would be more strongly correlated with higher levels of Facebook use. In addition, the study explored whether agreeableness and openness were significantly correlated to use/non-use of the site as had been found in previous research. Data was collected using an online survey, which included questions regarding demographic criterion, the Big Five Personality Inventory, whether participants utilized Facebook and if so how frequently, and what their reasons were for either using or not using the site. Results demonstrated no significant relationship between any of the five personality traits and level of Facebook use; however, differences in use were found according to age and gender. These findings were similar to some of the work of past researchers, which contributes to the exploration about the nature of the interconnectedness between technology and the psychological self