Subject: The psychology of the Internet Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:36:26 +0100 From: "M Winther" Reply-To: kalroten@passagen.se Organization: - Newsgroups: alt.psychology Despite the fact that the number of Internet users has exploded in the latest ten years, it seems fewer and fewer people are discussing on Usenet or in other places. Many discussion groups are today deserted. People are now "pseudo-socializing" on Facebook or MySpace, or they devote themselves to nonsensical "chatting", play online games, or write their own Blogs. To write a Blog, someone said, is to be involved in a telephone conversation with oneself. But it would do people good to truly exchange thoughts with other people, because it would stem the modern day plague, namely narcissistic preoccupations. But people generally don't like having their own worldview challenged. There are immense numbers of people who really cannot stand free thought. In what direction is social life going these days? ScienceDaily has attended to the phenomenon of Facebook or MySpace, something which is very hard to grasp for people belonging to the older generations. ____________________ "Facebook Profiles Can Be Used To Detect Narcissism" ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2008) - A new University of Georgia study suggests that online social networking sites such as Facebook might be useful tools for detecting whether someone is a narcissist. "We found that people who are narcissistic use Facebook in a self-promoting way that can be identified by others," said lead author Laura Buffardi, a doctoral student in psychology who co-authored the study with associate professor W. Keith Campbell. Read the full article here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080922135231.htm __________________________ "Crafting Your Image For Your 1,000 Friends On Facebook Or MySpace" ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2008) - Students are creating idealized versions of themselves on social networking websites - Facebook and MySpace are the most popular - and using these sites to explore their emerging identities, UCLA psychologists report. Parents often understand very little about this phenomenon, they say. Read the full article here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081118200556.htm Mats Winther