Social news sites, like digg.com and reddit.com, can often stimulate problematic behavior in its users. For those who are unsure of the term, social news sites are basically online spaces where members submit news stories or interesting links found throughout the web, which are subsequently voted on by other members if they are found to be particularly interesting or noteworthy. The most popular links wind up on the front page of the site and usually consist of only those few stories that the community finds most remarkable and appealing. Oftentimes, people will form habits of checking these sites every so often in order to see what the most popular stories of the moment are, relying on these sites to provide them with a dependable source of important news. The common user might not realize the bad habit that they are forming, rather believing they are educating themselves and furthering their knowledge by checking the site every so often. For every substantial news story or worthy article, there are two or three submissions to the site that are nothing more than links to funny youtube videos, or comical pictures, or time-wasting “empty” articles that add no real value to the user’s fundamental pursuit of knowledge. Before you know it, you’re spending hours and hours entertaining yourself with the funny links and you forget the fact that you came to the site to read up on the news! Granted, sites like digg.com can often provide better links to news stories and subjective articles than traditional news sites, such as cnn.com, yet they have a mysterious power to suck you in and make you addicted to reading up on each and every posting to the site. Soon enough, you are spending all of your free time on sites like digg.com, all the while thinking that you are making yourself more knowledgeable when you are, in fact, more likely wasting your time. This can lead to problematic internet use, or PIU.
Caplan might attribute such behavior to excessive and compulsive use. Participants in social news sites often exceed their planned time expenditure, as it is very easy to get distracted on these sites. Compulsive behavior also applies to these types of environments, especially with respect to the guilt involved concerning the lack of self-control – it is extremely tempting on websites like digg.com to satisfy the urge to click on something we think might interest us, even if it is merely entertainment. Perhaps the reason why stories become popular on Digg in the first place is because they do so well tantalizing the user to click through and find out more about a particular submission. This makes it difficult to control the amount of time we spend on these types of sites. This characteristic also belongs in one of the four dimensions of problematic internet use described by Davis, Flett, and Besser – the distraction/procrastination dimension, especially in reference to the site’s ability to distract you from what you are supposed to be doing.
The social aspects of these sites, particularly on digg.com, align with Caplan’s Theory of Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being. Some members on digg.com that might have psychosocial problems may hold negative perceptions about their social competence, and therefore prefer to express their views and opinions to the online Digg community rather than in their real world interpersonal relationships. The advantages of a less threatening environment and the ability to more effectively express their views might cause them to prefer these social spaces. This preference, as Caplan describes, may lead to excessive or compulsive online interaction, which may in turn, affect their social behaviors in the real world. This may create a cycle of negative outcomes that spirals into a pattern that only worsens. Nonetheless, in order to escape the addiction of these social news sites, one must begin to understand whether these sites provide more social harm than good.
Comment 1
Comment 2
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Gregory,
Good explanation of the Caplan’s model and how it applies to digg. I agree with you in that digg is a much less threatening environment, which causes a preference in social spaces. The comment system helps contribute to this because you can either digg someone up when you approve of the statement, and you can bury him if you disapprove. This is a way to express your opinions without even saying a word. This is much less threatening than in face-to-face interactions because if you disagree with someone there might be a conflict between the two of you.
Great Post, I like the introduction you give to people who are not familiar with these sites. I think a crucial part of the addiction you describe is the fact that people have access to alternative news, which is often more interesting than mainstream sites. On digg.com the choices of action are 1)comment and 2) digg (or bury). Since the digg action only requires that one reads the article and clicks a button, it makes "commenting" much faster, allowing the person to jump from one article to the next, much like an olympic judge awaiting the next skater.
Gregory, great post. Digg is a great site that I have used regularly. It works well for getting news and information that the traditional media might not find important but mass amounts of users do. Because of the way the site is set up where people essentially vote for the stories that they believe other people should read, the stories that most people would find interesting tend to make their way to the top. It is really easy to waste countless hours on this site with such a large community of members contributing. Not only does Digg get the stories noticed but it also allows users to discuss the stories under its comments section. With so many different types of stories on the site, there are bound to be some controversial ones that cause heated debates in the comments. Good explanation of how this site follows Caplan’s model.
Post a Comment