The Purpose of This Study
THE INTERNET 'S EFFECT ON TEENAGERS
Joshua Benjamin
Mr. Ferraro
Cooper City High School
Last Revised: January 31, 1999
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of internet usage on a user 's life. Internet addiction is a serious complication effecting America 's teenagers. An abundance of support, self-help, and anonymous therapy web sites are available to the public, but there has not been much distinguished attention given to the matter by media other than the Internet. A myriad of collegiate surveys (see references cited) exhibit static results of the Internet 's effect based on the participant 's age, gender, race, and lifestyle. Many people find the Internet to be the ideal place to socialize with others because of it 's faceless medium and effortless ways to find others with similar interests; through the many ways of communication over the Internet, the common prejudices of life are not evident.
A significant issue, are the obscured inconveniences one may encounter during their day-to-day internet experiences. As companies 'snaz up ' their websites more and more, the user is required to wait for more data to download. The common user does not care to wait for all the attractions and wishes to view what that they come looking for, information. Discomfort is endured as the user sits, and waits for minutes at a time as a status bar slowly progresses to the 100% complete mark. Over time, slightly disturbing events such as this build upon one another and it is hypothesized that it can impose on a user 's psychological health over time. Some studies emphasize on internet usage in relation to social and civic interaction. Others highlight the similarities and differences between internet addiction and other addictions. Still others stress on what the user does online and how that affects him or her.
One college researcher 's study focuses on Internet users ' in relation to their various daily tasks. He states, "Buying
Joshua Benjamin
Mr. Ferraro
Cooper City High School
Last Revised: January 31, 1999
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of internet usage on a user 's life. Internet addiction is a serious complication effecting America 's teenagers. An abundance of support, self-help, and anonymous therapy web sites are available to the public, but there has not been much distinguished attention given to the matter by media other than the Internet. A myriad of collegiate surveys (see references cited) exhibit static results of the Internet 's effect based on the participant 's age, gender, race, and lifestyle. Many people find the Internet to be the ideal place to socialize with others because of it 's faceless medium and effortless ways to find others with similar interests; through the many ways of communication over the Internet, the common prejudices of life are not evident.
A significant issue, are the obscured inconveniences one may encounter during their day-to-day internet experiences. As companies 'snaz up ' their websites more and more, the user is required to wait for more data to download. The common user does not care to wait for all the attractions and wishes to view what that they come looking for, information. Discomfort is endured as the user sits, and waits for minutes at a time as a status bar slowly progresses to the 100% complete mark. Over time, slightly disturbing events such as this build upon one another and it is hypothesized that it can impose on a user 's psychological health over time. Some studies emphasize on internet usage in relation to social and civic interaction. Others highlight the similarities and differences between internet addiction and other addictions. Still others stress on what the user does online and how that affects him or her.
One college researcher 's study focuses on Internet users ' in relation to their various daily tasks. He states, "Buying
References: Egger, 1996 HomeNet Project Study by: Kraut, Lundmark, Patterson, Kiesler, Mukopadhyay, Scherlis, Zdaniuk, Thielke, Patterson, Carnegie Mellon University, 1998. The Psychology of Cyberspace Turkle, 1996 Trapped in the Web Psychology Today; Potera, 1998 Research Over Internet Addiction Cochran, 1996 Internet/Web Growth Exponential as Usual Searcher, 1997 Psychology of Cyberspace - Computer and Cyberspace Addiction Suler, 1996 revised 1998 Creation of a E-nation Canadian Geographic; Harris-Adler, 1995