Descriptions The Psychology of the Internet Download
An engaging and research-based text, The Psychology of the Internet provides a balanced overview of the psychological aspects of cyberspace. It explores crucial questions about the internet's effects on human behavior, such as why we often act in uncharacteristic ways in online environments and how social media influence the impressions we form and our personal relationships. The book's balanced approach to the subject encourages readers to think critically about the psychology of the internet, and how and why their own online behavior unfolds. Drawing on classic and contemporary research, this second edition examines new trends in internet technology, online dating, online aggression, group dynamics, child development, prosocial behavior, online gaming, gender and sexuality, privacy and surveillance, the net's addictive properties, and strategies for shaping the net's future.For Internet veterans, communicating by e-mail and arguing in newsgroups seem perfectly natural. Step back from the keyboard, though, and you might see some merit in Patricia Wallace's thesis that the Net "is a place where we humans are acting and interacting rather strangely at times". Her book explores on-line behaviours, mixing academic research and anecdote to create explanations that are both credible and accessible.
Despite the all-encompassing title, The Psychology of the Internet only deals with technologies that enable Net users to communicate directly: e-mail, newsgroups, chat and MUD-type environments (virtual worlds where people can experiment with alternative personas). The Web gets mentioned in passing, chiefly as a repository for personal home pages, but if you are a Web designer wanting to know how people feel about colour schemes or navigation tools, you've come to the wrong book.
Wallace starts by looking at on-line identities and group dynamics, then considers specific activities such as flaming (arguments), romance, addiction and altruism. A chapter on pornography avoids sensationalism, but ends weakly with, "We know too little about pornography on the Internet--who uses it and how it affects them--to draw any firm conclusions yet". There is also a chapter on gender issues.
You don't need a background in psychology or a wealth of technical expertise to get something from this book. It will make you think twice about the next e-mail you type and throw some light on your experiences, but there are no great revelations. Wallace just tells it as it is, moderately and sensibly. --Mary Lojkine, Good Books To Read 2016 .
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