Essay Research

Database Articles:

Katz, J. E. & Rice, R. E. (2002). Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement and Interaction The MIT Press Massachusetts. Key Points:

- The internet overcomes barriers in the human quest for knowledge and companionship, the world is smaller so to speak, because geographical, political and cultural differences no longer hinder communication

- Increases social capital of society as a whole and individuals often benefit from this

- But internet use can also lead to psychological problems such as people using the web to regulate mood and escape reality

Amichai-Hamburger, Y. & Furnham, A. (2007) ‘The Positive Net.’ Computers in Human Behaviour 23: 1033-1045. Key Points:

- The web can be used to help socially inhibited and shy people

- Although online communication is vastly different to face-to-face contact, increased communication between individuals is likely to bring about psychological benefits

- The user can choose to be anonymous and thus allowing him/her to assume another identity and step out of their usual social norms should they so wish

- The internet also allows intercultural communication where participants maintain equal status, diamond necklaces and missing teeth for example, can be ignored in the online world

Finkelhor, D. Mitchell, K. J. & Wolak, J. (2000). ‘Online Victimisation: A report on the nation’s youth.’ National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children 1(1): 1-60. Key points:

- An overwhelming proportion of youth were sexually solicited, came into contact with unwanted sexual material or were threatened or harassed online in a study conducted

- In the majority of these cases, solicitation never took place and pornography encountered was brushed off but the rising number of these occurrences is a cause of social concern for all

- This is accentuated by the notion that the internet is one of the primary places where kids learn and play today

- The internet should thus be a medium that children can use without being bombarded by offensive, obscene or dangerous content

How this task has helped me formulate my essay topic:

I have always been intrigued about the social impacts of rising internet use on a global scale. On the one hand, the internet, with its wealth of information and communication possibilities, is almost a necessity at home, in schools and at the workplace. Simultaneously however, concerns have been raised about youth violence caused by video games, obesity due to a sedentary lifestyle, sexual predation of youth online, net safety and the effect on health and relationships as a result of excessive internet use. This however, is a very broad concept or rather very broad concepts! By looking through the library catalogue and simply browsing through the extensive range of journal articles and research available at the various databases, I've been able to hone in more specifically on what topic I want to cover in such a short space (1000 words). The task allowed me to look at each one of the above factors in more detail and choose which ones I think are relevant to include in my essay. The summary of the three articles above are examples of this I have gathered today. Furthermore, by reading what different academics and the like have to say about these topics, I have gained a clearer understanding of what I think about the concepts themselves and subsequently how I want to angle this essay.