Preliminary findings: Using the Internet in our everyday lives.
Findings
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6 Related themes
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1 Constitutive pattern
Theme one: The Internet as a resource
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Communication mode
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Email, Listserves, Chat room
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Vast repository of information
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Keeping current in world events and professional practice
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Literature searches for current knowledge
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Broaden Knowledge in conceivably any area
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Entertainment
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Gaming, download music, adventuring, reading
Theme two: The Internet as appealing, draws one into frequent
use.
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Instant gratification in seeking information or entertainment
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Curiosity and wonder, enjoy seeking new knowledge
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Availability and convenience
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Information power
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Cost effective
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Professional stimulation
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Wealth of opportunities for interaction
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Anonymity and safety in interactions
Theme three: Dependencies
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Able to do more, therefore, do more
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What am I missing if I am gone or the system is down, versus "freedom from
the tyranny"
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Time consuming
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Giant magnet
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Got to check my email
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Addictions
Theme four: Internet as frustrating
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Irrelevant search results
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Time spent on searching mountains of information
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Miscommunication via email messages
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Slow connections and down servers
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Information is poor, misleading or outdated
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Spamming, hacking, flaming of others.
Theme five: Learning the rules
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Self taught (often introduced at school)
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Explore and learn the basics
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Training/ seek helpful other
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Listserv behavior/ netiquette
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Generational differences in usage, more ingrained in lifestyle of young
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Evaluation of web sites/ no censorship
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Trust/security issues need to beware and learn some rules
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“I tell people that the Internet is like a wonderful, large metropolitan
city. Like a city, the Internet has stores, auctions, clubs, libraries,
schools and a wide variety of cultural events. In a big city, you
have to be careful about where you go, be mindful of safety, avoid getting
too involved with strangers, do not give out personal information readily
and remember that children should not be allowed to roam around unsupervised.
The same rules apply to the Internet.”
Theme six : Physical and psychosocial effects
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Physical
Eye strain, back discomfort, headaches,
carpal tunnel.
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Psychosocial
Time spent online versus time spent
in real world, blurring of worlds.
Decrease in face to face interactions.
Work / home environment blur.
“This quote sums up the effect on my social life…It was obvious that he
wanted a fuller life for himself…but until he got that, the net was his
life..he loved the net and found it safe, so he spent all his free time
there. Because he spent all his free time there, he couldn’t quite manage
to broaden his life…technology was …preventing his getting out and doing
the sometimes hard work that goes into building friendships and relationships
maybe the Net provided too much cover.”
Constitutive Pattern : Immersion into the virtual world
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Shifting of the mind: use of the Internet ingrained in normal life.
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Integration of Internet in daily lives.
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Newly immersed - learning curve and frustrations, poor search strategies.
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Fully immersed - worlds intertwined.
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Unthinkable to be without.
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Potential to disconnect from real-world and connect with virtual.