anderson@uwmacc.UUCP (Jess Anderson) (09/03/86)
Is anyone seriously studying the network-news-habituated
person/personality? It seems to me very likely that people
might develop dependencies on information exchange _per se_,
analogous to substance dependency. If there is anything to
this hypothesis, it would seem to be a phenomenon worth
tracking and integrating into the larger implications of
computing for social interaction. One respondent to my
already-launched inquiry on electronic relationships said
he experienced considerable deflation of his spirits when
circumstances took him away from the net for some time.
I certainly notice when (usually in my "free" time in the
evenings) there is no new news to be read in my 20-25
subscribed-to newsgroups. I find myself wondering things
like: "what if I don't get my messages?" and other very
mildly paranoid thoughts, plus I truly miss the "contact"
without even being too aware of what I mean by that. It's
possible that sociologists and psychologists in netland
(the features of *that* place could be delineated more
fully, too!) are already hard at work on this aspect of
our emerging culture, but I wonder who they are and what
their current working models are. Anybody know what's
going on there? If there is sufficient interest, I'll
summarize findings to the net, if you like.
--
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