While walking down the hallway of any given dorm at Plymouth, it can be heard from all directions. It is the sound of an instant message. The same sound that can make homework that should take ten minutes to complete take over an hour. The same sound that sends you and other roommates running to the computers to see which one of you was the lucky recipient.
Many college students exhibit what resembles an addiction to the Internet. Their use of the Internet, especially instant messenger interferes with their daily life and prohibits them from getting work done. This can be categorized as a compulsive behavior according to the requirements outlined in a psychiatric diagnosis manual. According to Center for Online Internet Addiction, as well as being compulsive behavior, there is a disorder called Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD).
The Center administered a survey in which 30% of the respondents declared that they used the Internet in order to escape negative feelings. Symptoms of IAD include spending more time than intended online, feeling preoccupied with the internet, lying about your time spent online, and putting online chats ahead of real life relationships in importance.
According to the website, instant messenger directly contributes to a decline in social behaviors. The service makes it so easy to talk to people through computer that fewer people will take that walk across campus, or even the walk across the hall to interact with fellow students. So despite the hours spent talking to people online, it really is not a social activity.
The service has not only become a replacement for face-to-face interactions, but has also become an alternative to time spent alone. People have forgotten how to entertain themselves, and rely on the impersonal instant messenger to keep them busy.
Many students have experienced this. While trying to write a paper you hear the familiar sound that you have received a new message. You check who it is, and most likely, you will respond. Even if you don?t respond to them, it draws you back into the world of instant messenger and you begin the ritual of checking away messages and seeing how long your friends have been idle. That compulsive right click, left click combination that seemingly holds all of the deepest secrets of your friends can captivate you for hours.
Sophomore Stacey Seifried explained, ?When I?m working and I just need a break, or an excuse to stop working, I always go on Instant Messenger. It?s so mindless, and I always end up staying online longer than I expected. I don?t even always care if I talk to people, just checking away messages keeps you distracted.?
Upon return from a party one might empty their pockets and find pieces of paper with contact information on them. Historically this would come in the form of phone numbers, but often students come home and go straight to their buddy lists to add the new names. Seeing the new names pop up for the first time, you go straight to their buddy info. to see what you can discover about them that you couldn?t have figured out in personal interactions.
Personal issues aside, instant messenger can also cause a problem with writing skills. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling have become rather obsolete. A professor at Plymouth commented in class that he had been receiving papers that said ?u? instead of ?you? and had a complete lack of punctuation.
Finding the perfect buddy icon, or the perfect quote for your profile or away message is quite the chore, but once it?s done you feel a sense of accomplishment. You post your profile and away messages very seriously; it?s like your statement to the world. You hope your friends read them, and every time you come back from being away you hope to see that someone commented on it with a ?lol? or ?lmao?.
The computer has become an alternative to real life. It is almost a fantasy world, where everything happens the way you want it to. When you don?t want to talk to someone anymore, you can block all contact with them with a few clicks of the mouse. You can express yourself through your away message; express your anger with someone without having to face them, by using a smiley.
Whether Instant Messenger is a useful tool or a mere distraction, it is sure to be around for a long time. For more information on Internet addiction see the Center for Online and Internet Addiction at http://netaddiction.com/.