As strange as it may seem, I’ve noticed an unusual amount of YouTube viewing at our beloved libraries. At first, I thought it must be a new major: you only go to the library to do school work, right? Well, after some investigation I found that Cornell doesn’t offer a YouTube major, and all this movie watching is really one big distraction!
YouTube distraction only follows hypotheses 2 and 3 of Caplan’s study. While Caplan found psychosocial problems initiate the problematic internet usage loop, school work stress triggers the cycle and fuels a need to get away from the library. From my own experiences and observations, students working many hours at a time feel breaks are necessary every now and then. However, what plans to be a 5 minute YouTube break could end up lasting hours. Once the student gets a taste, he or she follows Caplan’s hypothesis 2 and allows the preference to unfold into problematic usage. YouTube is a very addicting site, with links to popular and related videos everywhere. Just like potato chips, its almost impossible to see/eat just one! For example, I dare anyone to look at this video and not look at all the hilarious remixes and spinoffs for another half hour.
In accordance with hypothesis 3, the unanticipated distraction worsens one’s problem as the night progresses in Uris Library, and the student suffers more sleep deprivation than usual (if possible). However, contrary to Caplan's model, this procrastination only mitigates the problem, and doesn’t lead back to hypothesis 1. As the night progresses and hours are wasted, the student realizes its time to buckle down as the deadline approaches and will avoid YouTube breaks and use more discretion.
Although YouTube is a social community as Caplan describes, it isn't necessary to socialize on the site. A good deal of addiction occurs just by lurking and viewing lots of videos, not interacting with the community. This explains why hypothesis 1 doesn’t hold for YouTube distraction: there’s no required social interaction to appease social problems in the real world. Instead, YouTube offers a highly addicting escape from monotony, regardless of social interactivity.
Caplan’s study captures the social path to internet addiction while YouTube offers an entertainment route. Regardless of how they enter hypothesis 2 and 3, Caplan accurately defines addiction in terms of excessive and compulsive use. YouTube distraction is excessive because each session eats away much more time than expected. It’s also compulsive because it’s easy to start watching one video spontaneously and become hooked. Additionally, YouTube viewing is a complete waste of time compared to social interactions. An addiction to a social space may reduce FtF interaction time, but is used to maintain social connections, especially weak ties. However, YouTube doesn’t simultaneously achieve anything, and only drains more time from the day. Although Caplan pinpoints the immediate effects of problematic internet use, he confines the argument on the social aspects of the web, while online content and one’s work habits can also play significant roles in problematic use.
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3 comments:
First off that video is hilarious! Secondly I really agree that YouTube can be a really time waster and I’m sure that there are some people that have a serious issue or problem with wasting too much time on YouTube. Some of my guy friends are ALWAYS talking about new videos they have come across on that site and it makes me wonder how much time they actually spend on there!?! I thought your observation about YouTube being an escape from the environment and stress (library, studying) and being the cause of cause problematic usage was a good one. Facebook and ad MySpace have the same effect on people too I think.
I've seen that Montgomery Flea Market video before, it truly is spectacular. I'm glad someone brought up YouTube as a source of Internet addiction. I know several people who seem to spend hours a day searching for the most obscure videos possible, so this form of PIU definitely exists. However, since YouTube is somewhat of a recent development to the Internet, I don't think the Caplan model really holds true since YouTube is much more a source of entertainment, than a means of social interaction.
Steve, you're definitely right about youtube. often I find myself looking for a quick distraction only to find i've wasted a lot more time than planned just browsing through videos. It's a situation where you find yourself saying "just one more video" over and over. Youtube is clever by showing related videos to the one you're watching because you will most likely be interested in those too. You also do a good job connecting youtube to Caplan's theory.
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