The psychology of the Internet / Patricia Wallace.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1 THE INTERNET IN A PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTEXT 1
Environments of the Internet: A Taxonomy 4
Language on the Net 9
Empowering Internet Users 12
2 YOUR ONLINE PERSONA: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
IMPRESSION FORMATION 14
Warm and Cold Impressions 15
The Chilly Internet 15
The Socioemotional Thaw 18
Impression Formation Shortcuts 19
Person Types and Categories 21
Beyond Age and Gender 24
Social Cognition and Categories 25
The Rhythms of Impression Formation 26
Online, Onstage: Impression Management
on the Internet 28
Online Self-Descriptions 30
The Home Page Advantage 31
Focus on Self
Making that Keyboard Work Harder 36
3 ONLINE MASKS AND MASQUERADES 38
The Origins of Role Play 40
Leakage on the Internet 41
Role Play Danger Areas 44
Identity Experiments in the Internet Laboratory 47
The Dupes in the Experiment 49
Detecting Deceit, Offline and On 50
Deceit and Suspicion: Dance Partners 51
Pros and Cons of the Internet's Identity Lab 53
GROUP DYNAMICS IN CYBERSPACE 55
"Groupness" 55
Conformity 59
Conforming on the Net 62
The Sign on the Door 64
The Arched Brow 66
In Search of the Leviathan 69
Experimenting with the Leviathan On a Social MUD 71
Group Polarization 73
Polarization on the Net 76
Finding Others of Like Mind 79
Virtual Work Groups 80
The Biased Dicussion in Online Workgroups 81
Minority Opinions in Online Workgroups 82
Workgroups and Electronic Brainstorming 83
Developing Trust in Virtual Teams 84
INTERGROUP CONFLICT AND COOPERATION 88
The Robbers Cave Experiments 89
Intergroup Rivalries on the Internet Games 91
Player Types and Motivations 96
Ingroups on the Internet 99
"Expert-ism" 101
Global Villagers: Are We a Group? 103
Internet Group Power 105
FLAMING AND FIGHTING: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
AGGRESSION ON THE NET 110
Born to Fight? Ill
Frustration and Aggression 112
The World Wide Wait 113
The Hair Trigger 116
Retaliation 117
In the Eye of the Beholder: When Is a Flame a Flame? 119
Lab and Field Studies of Flaming 120
Reproaches 122
Over-Retaliation 123
Anonymity and Physical Distance 124
The #$@@!!!& Software 127
Catharsis: Is Letting Off Steam Good for You? 129
Aggression: Internet Style 130
7 LIKING AND LOVING ON THE NET: THE PSYCHOLOGY
OF INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION 133
Who Makes Friends Online? 134
The Nature of Online Relationships 135
The Magnet of Physical Attractiveness 136
Attractiveness in the Dark 138
Proximity: Who's Next Door on the Net? 139
Birds of a Feather, Flocking on the Internet 141
Complementary Relationships 143
The "You Like Me, I Like You, You Like Me More" Spiral 144
When the Spiral Spins Down 145
Humor 142
Self-Disclosure 1^^
Enhancing Real Life Romance on the Internet 151
Virtual Passion 1^2
Roses on the Net 1^^
8 PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF INTERNET
PORNOGRAPHY 157
Sensationalizing Cyberporn 157
But What Is Really Out There? 159
Psychological Aspects of Pornography 161
Aggressive and Violent Pornography 163
Views From the Internet 165
Checking IDs 162
How Much Should We Worry? 169
9 THE INTERNET AS A TIME SINK 121
Locus of Control 123
Section 2 125
The Online Auction 122
The Internet's Addictive Properties 128
What Is So Compelling About the Internet? 181
The Psychology of Addiction in Synchronous
Psychological Spaces 132
Life at the Palace
Newbie Disease?
Naming the Affliction: Addiction? Ovemse?
Self-indulgence?
10 ALTRUISM ON THE NET: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HELPING 190
Random Acts of Kindness: Internet Style 190
By the Numbers
Let Someone Else Take Care of It 194
Numbers on the Net 1^^
Who Helps Whom? 1^®
People Like Us
Asking For Help on the Net 201
The Internet's Support Networks 204
Support For Stigmatized Groups 205
How May I Help You? 206
11 GENDER ISSUES ON THE NET 208
Male and Female: Not Opposite Sexes 208
Gender and Language
Language and Power
Interaction Styles
The Leap to Cyberspace: Are We Typing
in Pink and Blue?
Adapting to the Male Majority 217
Stereotypes and Perceptions 218
The New Battlefield for the War Between the Sexes 219
Women-Only and Men-Only Groups 222
Gender IDs in the Games
A Hostile World for Women 225
Legal Aspects of Online Harassment and Threats 227
The Mr.Bungle Affair 230
Gender Issues on the Frontier 232
12 NURTURING LIFE ON THE INTERNET 233
Technological Determinism Revisited 234
A Perfect Place For Conspiracies 236
The Metadiscussion
Anonymity and Accountability 239
The Tragedy of the Electronic Commons 242
oin
Oil
Trust and Grassroots E-Commerce 244
Encouraging Critical Thinking 245
Providing Guidance 246
Rewards on the Internet 249
Psychology of the Internet: The Next Generation 251