• Summary
• Questions by Peers
• Reactions
• Comparison
• Suggestions

Summary
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The web site I reviewed was called "The Internet Regression" by Norman N. Holland.  It is his opinion that talking on the internet makes people regress, be it one-to-tone email or a chat room.  By regression, Holland means that people express sex and aggressions like they would never do face-to-face.  He gives three major signs of this regression: flaming, sexual harassment, and generosity.  Holland points out that there are good sides as well as bad sides to the internet.  The good sides being the generosity and openness as well as the support you get through the internet.  For example, there are support groups for recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, etc.  The bad sides are the aggressive flaming, sexual attacks and increased vulnerability.  They all begin, both good sides and bad, as a lack of inhibition.  The reason for this lack of inhibition is as we begin to use the computer more and more we begin to indentify with the computer.  The computer is not just a machine anymore.  Holland states that many psychological researchers conclude that people almost instinctively think of computers as other people.  Also we feel more safe infront of a computer than a person.  The author coments that because we are isolated from social cues and so we feel more free from criticism than if speaking to a person.

Halland states that when communicating on the internet, we set up a relationship with other people in whick the people get less human and the machine gets more human.  And this is how the three signs of internet regression (flaming, flirting, and giving) come into play.  We flame the other person as if they had no feeling like a machine.  We flirt with the machine as if it was a person.  And often we're open and giving toward the computer because it is open and giving to us.  the machine becomes us, and we become the machine.

Questions by Peers
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1.    How do you define computer addiction?  (Leon Mosher)
       What exactly qualifies a person as a computer addict?  (Russ Muramatsu)
       What is a computer addict?  (Craig Kawamura)

Computer addiction or addicts are people who spend way too mcuh time on their computer and neglect other aspects of their life.  When I say addicted, I don't just mean chatting, but people who end their time programming gaming, and even working on their computers.  Accoring to the author, computer addicts sees the computer as a soothing alternative to human.  They like dealing with the logical and dispassionate machine rather than an emotional human being.

The author gave three signs of regression: flaming, sexual harrassment, and generosity.  What he means by regression is that people express aggressive behaviors as well as sexual ones on the internet when they would never even think of doing it in real life.  They might think about expressing it but would never do if they were face to face with someone.

  

3.    Why do people revert to this immature state when on the internet?  (Corey Egami)

The reason author gave as to why people reverts to this kind of behavior when they're on the internet is lack of inhibition.  I agree with him.  People lose their inhibition when they go online because of the anonymity they have.  That anonymity is like a safety net, it makes people say and do whatever they want without the fear of consequences.
 

4.   What percent of the population engages in internet regression?  (Evelyn Moss)

  I'm not sure what percentage of the population engages in internet regression.  Probably everyone who has been on the internet has regressed at least once I think.  The tempation to say or do anything just because they can't see you  and don't know who you are is very tempting.

  

5.   Can you think of any other ways (besides the 3 listed in the site) that could lead to
      regression on the internet?  (Sheri Lieberman)

The only thing I could think of that could lead to regression on the internet was the one we talked about in class, spamming.  Spamming is junk mail.  Other then that I can't think of any other.

6.    Have you experience these signs and symptoms of regression when talking on the
       internet? (Carolyn Agmata)

I have experience some of the the signs of regression.  Mostly it was flaming.  But it didn't really bother me.  And I think the reason why it didn't bother me as much was because it was impersonal.  I wasn't talking to someone face to face, I was reading the computer screen.  I think it would have been different if someone insulted me to my face.

  

7.    Do you find yourself regressing with these behaviors while you're on the internet?
        (George Pederson)

I don't usually go online to talk with people anymore.  I usually go on the internet for research.   However, in my early days I did flame a couple of people.  It wasn't a serious flame, more like a flicker.

8.   Do you believe that internet regression is a real problem?  (Albert Ne)

Internet regression could become a major problem if it gets too much out of hand.  The internet is one of the extraordinary technological achievements and one of the great human achievements.  It seem like the internet grew overnight because it grew so fast and with no one planning or controlling it.  However, I don't think internet regression is going to be a continous problem in the future.  Because of the technology growth, people won't be anonymous on the internet anymore.  We already have video conferencing where you can see the person you're talking to and they can see you too.

Reactions

I wasn't as well prepared for the second presentation as I'd liked because I wasn't sure how I should present it.  It was a bit hard explaing what is internet regression and why people engage in it.  Answering questions were a bit difficult, especially the ones asked by Dr.James about anonymity.  I really didn't know how to answer his questions because I didn't have an opinion about it.  A couple of students commented on the subject of anonmity.  Overall it was okay.

Comparison

The oral presentation page are pretty much similar for all the classmates.   They all followed the instructions given by Dr.James on what to put on the page.  They were easy to read and navigate through.
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Suggestions

My suggestion for the future generation is to prepare.  Prepare for your presentation so you won't get flustered if someone ask you a question.   Also think up some provacative questions to ask your audience after your presentation, like what they think about your topic or whether or not they agree, etc.  It can gets a bit quiet after the presentation.  Remember, Practice makes it Perfect :)