Every American uses modern technology and electronics on a daily basis to send and receive messages, listen to music,

connect to the web, and gaming with friends. Those who fail to acknowledge the new and changing ways of communication tend to be critical of changes in technology. Criticizing communication technology as an evil of society is a major mistake. Modern technological advances, particularly the internet and iPods, have had a positive impact upon the social abilities of todays youth. In one article, internet and iPods are said to interfere with the teachings of civilized behavior. According to previous definitions of civilized behavior, structured environments teach children civilized behavior. In the article, Mr. Postman proposes that social values take years to become internalized and that technology does not coincide and interferes with the making of civilized people (Source A). His circular logic fails to give any evidence of support and has the makings of a hasty generalization. The future of education lies in technology. Mans survival has been his ability to adapt to new environments and designing learning techniques based on the past makes no sense in an evolving world. Another article asks the question on whether iPods promote anti-social behavior or do we promote it. Kryste Song argues that the iPod promotes anti-social behavior (Source E). The iPod in this case is used as a false cause of anti-social behavior. While iPods can be used anti-socially, iPods cant create the anti-social behavior any more than windows on a building, fences in a neighborhood, or rainy weather. Anti-social individuals have always found ways to isolate themselves. The fact that they use an iPod as one or more ways of creating the isolation is only one isolated example of iPod usage. If anything, using technology such as the iPod can help create a new social environments. In reality, a tool like the iPod has created a new social environment on college campus. Harris describes how students use the iPod to make their college experience fuller. (Source D). Young people are inventing new ways to interact using technology like iPods and are able to avoid labeling and bandwagon behaviors that in the past would have isolated individuals. In the play, Pygmalion, the author, Shaw, criticizes language as a way of separating classes. He argued that education was a way of removing those class barriers. The use of modern technology like the iPod can be compared to the Shaws ideas about breaking down class barriers only using technology instead of education. Some say that the internet leads to depression and lack of friends. Mr. Alfonso argues that the internet has a negative influence on individuals and their social skills (Source D). He cites a Carnegie Mellon University study that links internet use with misery and loneliness and failure to keep up with your friends (Source D). Less family interactions and daily stress are also reported. Yet, the internet

was reported to be a tool for personal communications. (Source D). It is common knowledge that todays society is more fast-paced, high stressed, and less dependent on face to face interactions. To blame societys ills on the internet is a slippery slope. In fact, the internet has become a tool for helping people treat depression. Information to help address our sufferings is more readily available than ever thanks to the internet. Learning to use the internet is the solution not the problem. An example is a senior citizen who has his mobility and is able to learn to use the internet to replace his ability ot physically interact with others. Many people try to compare internet users to non-internet users. Statistical studies like that of Nie, Norman, and Hilgers support Mr. Alfonsos arguments about the internet decreasing social interaction (Source D). However, the statistics tend to generalize the non-internet users and internet users when the individuals may also have other personality traits that might affect their social activities. Internet users might be more intellectual and less likely to pursue parties or sporting events. They may have developed more skills in focusing their attention on their careers or main interests allowing their social skills to degrade. The internet shouldnt be blamed for the personalities it attracts. This form of selective sampling will lead to logical fallicies and make the shortcomings of technology more important than the benefits. In fact, the internet increases quantity and quality of social behaviors. Coget, Yutaka, and Yamauchi support the idea that the internet helps to keep in touch with friends (Source C). In the past, an individual was limited by his physical environment when creating social circles. The internet has removed physical boundaries. A comparison would be in the physics of the universe where every star no matter the distance has some effect on another star. In the internet world, human interactions reach across distances in the same way. When the telephone was invented, it only served to increase human ability to speak across great distances. Because the internet is multi-dimensional it offers the ability to get closer to creating a better relationship without the physical barriers. In fact, Coget, Yutaka, and Yamauchi discuss how the internet transcends our physical discriminations and allows us to develop relationships on a deeper level than those based on appearance (Source C). Those who suffer from depression over their physical disabilities can overcome personal insecurities to find a world willing to accept them as they are. Todays youth use their iPods and the internet in ways never imagined. They serve as communication tools creating new social abilities that have evolved with a new gen

The Impact Of The Internet On Human Behavior

Jun 19, 2009 at 7:00am ET by Kim Krause Berg

inShare1 CNNs online news site recently posted a poll that asked, Are you tired of social networking? When I had checked their results, it showed that 74% chose YES. Yet according to Inside Twitter by Alex Cheng, Mark Evans and Harshdeep Singh, after analyzing information disclosed on 11.5 million Twitters accounts, 72.5% of all users joined during the first five months of 2009. 85.3% of all Twitter users post less than one update per day. Twitter is not the sole means of social networking of course, but this is one small example of conflicting reports regarding the Internet and human behavior. While not everyone is comfortable online, as a world civilization were adapting to the changes Internet technology is making in our lives. What might this mean for online marketing and user experience web design? Should social networking development cycles be investigating usability? Might they also be considering the impact of social media web sites on human behavior and society? The CNN poll was inspired by a piece they ran called Do You Suffer From Internet Fatigue?, which focused on a PEW study called The Mobile Difference. Pew found that only 7% of people use the Internet as their primary means of social communication. Yet, some of them feel guilty if they cant keep with all the various forms of the social Internet. According to John Horrigan, Pew Internet Projects associate director of research: The most high-tech group we labeled the digital collaborators. The digital collaborators are the ones with the most technology, doing the most with it and loving it the most, and really are about not just using technology to communicate with others but to cultivate their creative lives. Horrigan discussed young people and their usage of cell phones for texting and Internet for social networking with sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. This is how they communicate and socialize, and when they have to go off the air, they apologize for not being there. Do we need a break? According to Horrigan, the answer is yes. I think its fairly well known in the tech community that traffic for blogs and so-forth dives on the weekends, so I think people tend to use the weekends as a way to take a little bit of a breather. SciTech blog writer, John D. Sutter , who invites discussion on the topic of Internet fatigue (see resource below), shares that many are indeed fed up with information overload, or feel that online social networks are ruining our society. Its Googles fault One thing you can always count on with humans is that they will always find someone or something to blame for whatever they dislike. The July/August 2009 issue of The Atlantic

has a technology article called Get Smarter that presents the perspective that human beings are an evolving species and one of our natural triggers is How do we cope with this? The author, Jamais Cascio, explores whether the hive mind of the Internet can influence everything from personal growth, entertainment and communication to scientific discoveries, because we now have a tool for visualization and simulation. Were adapting to the Internet by way of fluid intelligence, which is the ability to find meaning in confusion and to solve new problems, independent of acquired knowledge. By contrast, others such as Nicholas Carr who wrote Is Google Making Us Stupid? for the magazine presents a different view. He argues that our brains are being rewired and its harder for us to relax due to information overload. Linda Stone, a technology thought leader, likens what we as web developers call hyperlinking to continuous partial attention. To pay continuous partial attention is to pay partial attention CONTINUOUSLY. It is motivated by a desire to be a LIVE node on the network. Another way of saying this is that we want to connect and be connected. We want to effectively scan for opportunity and optimize for the best opportunities, activities, and contacts, in any given moment. To be busy, to be connected, is to be alive, to be recognized, and to matter. We pay continuous partial attention in an effort NOT TO MISS ANYTHING. It is an alwayson, anywhere, anytime, anyplace behavior that involves an artificial sense of constant crisis. We are always in high alert when we pay continuous partial attention. This artificial sense of constant crisis is more typical of continuous partial attention than it is of multi-tasking. Weve spent a good deal of our energy creating usable web sites that make it easy for people to find where we put everything, but we focus far less on their physical and emotional experiences. We may take it for granted that site visitors will follow every link. Search engines follow hyperlinks. Persuasive site design calls for making links compelling, noticeable and worthy. When was the last time you thought, I want my customer to rest for a minute and gather their thoughts before they purchase from my web site? Design for future The future came yesterday. Internet technology isnt going away. Weve adapted. Well keep finding more ways to use it. Its estimated that 2 billion people will be on the Internet by 2010. Thats next year. In a very short time, weve made quantum leaps in how we think, share and interact with one another, both as individuals and as consumers. With social networking we share ourselves in ways we never dreamed of doing face to face. We dont have to leave the house to purchase products. We can call or send a text message to someone from wherever we happen to be, rather than hunt for a telephone booth. The line between our personal and public information has nearly disappeared. Our values, beliefs and human behavior are changing as a result. In a white paper, A Road Map for the Post-Web 2.0 World Jerome Nadel, MS, CUA, CPE / Chief Experience Officer Human Factors International, Inc., writes:

In the era of interactivity and user-created content, user experience is changing the very way we do business. There was a time in which digital technologies was just another asset of the enterprise, a tool used to execute strategy developed by management, and delivered to customers. That model has been flipped on its head. As we zoom past Web 2.0 into the realm of Web 3.0, customers are using technology to drive products, marketing and strategy. Are we worn out with social media? Do we really suffer from Internet fatigue? I think the answers depend on several factors, such as your age, where you live, personality, income, work life and personal values. To be sure, Internet marketers are having a blast and cant quite figure out what all the fuss is about. And yet, in private, some of them admit theyre indeed worn out. I believe were learning to cope with the technologies were inventing and people still prefer simplicity. Google shot past the other search engines because its interface was simple. The takeaways for us, regarding usability and SEO, is that our value lies in our fascination with and understanding of Internet technology and usage. We know how to work it. Could we wreck a good thing? Sure. We can contribute to the chaos and as result, drive people away from wanting to interact with social networking web sites. Companies can continue to develop applications and tools that invade public privacy. We can support adults sites or consider how what we are doing affects human civilization in the long run. Or, I was just visualizing sitting on the beach with a frozen strawberry daiquiri on sunny day with a light breeze messing up my bangs, watching a school of dolphins off in the distance, breathing in coconut mango suntan lotion and letting the ocean waves lull me into total relaxation. My computer, video, camera and cell phone are nowhere to be seen. Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.
eration. Most technological advancements have been criticized in their early stages. Yet, most arguments tend to be disproved over time. Man has adapted social skills interaction with new technology and the evolution has led to improvements in mans social skills and relationships. Perhaps, the new generation with their improved communication technology will send the message more clear and honest. If the result is still poor, then you cant blame the