You can't do too much of anything, the old saying goes. The same can be said of the usage of the Internet. As computers and the web become an accepted part of everyday life, there are those who will overuse these devices to their detriment. In Korea for example the high speed Internet infrastructure has fostered a culture where the next generation of kids spend all of their time playing and absorbing the content of the world wide web. Not only do they spend time there, researchers say that their social and mental stability is damaged because of it. There are actually boot camps that try to rehabilitate kids. Over 30 percent of Koreans under 18 are now at risk for Internet Addiction. A NYTimes article details how the rehabilitation centers try to teach kids, how to be kids. Activities included horseback riding, pottery making and chores. The program literally tries to dispel the compulsion to use the Internet and activities associated with computers.
People have been saying for awhile now that computers could lure people away from everyday activities. In fact, science fiction stories have used this idea to create future scenarios where entire societies are composed of people plugged into the web and have all their needs fulfilled by technology. Albeit it hasn't gotten to this point, kids most certainly spend an enormous amount of time using this new medium. Studies have also shown that kids most of all, spend more than seven and a half hours on average computer and cellphone devices everyday. Aside from school and sleep, that is pretty much all of their time.
Another subject comes up when using the computer and that's virtual hoarding. Others call it file hoarding or computer hoarding. It's when you accumulate files on your computer similar to how a person hoards physical items in real life. Most people do it on an unconscious level by just letting files and programs pile up. Yet, when you actively download files to a cache in the terabytes, it is an excess. If you never delete anything on your computer, you may want to ask why.
But don't start looking at your own computer just yet. When the term virtual hoarder is used, it's usually applied to those that do it in the extreme. There are actually people that have downloaded entire websites. A story I heard awhile back is of a person who actually downloaded nearly all the music that has ever been released. Those are the types of hoarders that are in the extreme. That particular example is even more dramatic because certain hoarders revel in hoarding objects stolen. Downloading music illegally, the person in the story was arrested by the authorities shortly after.
Those kinds of stories then add to a bigger picture about what is happening when we use computers and go online. A professor of mine back in college, Professor Dennis J. Streveler, once said, "the computer is an intellectual amplifier." It can be very useful in increasing our productivity. The computer is capable of increasing everything about us. If we like to look at pictures of cute kittens, we can do it all day long at lolcats. If we need a recipe, google can search for them in a split second. On the other hand, if we want to learn about making weapons, that is available too.
Entire archives of information is at our hands. Archives of Youtube videos are available too. Which will it be? With so much to do, we can be overwhelmed. We are consumers at the end of the day, with limited time. If we devote so much time on one thing, such as acquiring files, it may become the only thing we do.
