海角大神

In a series of man-on-the-street interviews, one young woman鈥檚 answer to the question, 鈥淒o you think you鈥檙e addicted to the Internet?鈥� was: 鈥淵es ... Twitter. I can鈥檛 get off of it.鈥�

Another responded, 鈥淚 love creeping on Facebook. I never post; I鈥檓 just always creeping, creeping, creeping [also called "lurking," looking at people's comments, likes, photos, etc.].鈥� A third said, 鈥淚 just run to the videos, the weirdest videos. I can spend all night watching them.鈥�

But 18-year-old Irish filmmaker Eoin (sounds like 鈥淥wen鈥�) Corbett went a lot deeper for his 20-min. documentary "." He also asked this question of himself 鈥� before and after completely unplugging from the Internet for 30 days 鈥� and of three friends, who agreed to participate in an experiment and each stay totally offline for a week.

He started his Net-free month thinking, 鈥淚鈥檓 probably more addicted than I think I am,鈥� and I won鈥檛 spoil the ending, but what he discovered was both a bit complicated and definitely anti-climactic. He realized that he had 鈥渂uilt it up in my head as being a bigger thing than it really is.鈥� That probably has a lot to do with how the society and media culture around him have represented 鈥渢he Internet鈥� to him and his peers (and not much different from perceptions in the US).

So both complicated and anti-climactic is about right, because the Internet is so many different things, and its use so very individual (see this about youth-and-social-media researcher danah boyd鈥檚 book "It鈥檚 Complicated").

Seeking an expert鈥檚 perspective

Eoin also took his investigation to the , where Irish psychologist Ciar谩n Mc Mahon told him 鈥渨e really don鈥檛 know what it [the Internet] is yet.鈥� He took Eoin back to the mid-鈥�90s, when the conversation about Internet addiction started, pointing out how much the Net has changed since then. 鈥淓very day it鈥檚 different,鈥� Dr. McMahon said, 鈥測ou never go back to the same Internet twice ... Maybe we鈥檙e not talking about 鈥業nternet addiction鈥�,鈥� he added, suggesting that what people may actually be referring to is impulse control.

What Eoin really comes away with from this interview at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin (coming back to it at the end of his film) is the importance of presence. McMahon told him, 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in a social situation, and I think it鈥檚 really important for parents of young children to establish a rule that the people in front of you are more important than the people on the Internet.鈥�

Eoin鈥檚 own exploration turned up very little evidence of the impulse control problem McMahon referred to. He was a little surprised to find he didn鈥檛 actually miss being online much during his month away.

Watching 鈥榯he weirdest stuff鈥� on TV

On the entertainment side, he did at first find that he missed the way the Net allowed him to tailor it so exactly to his own interests. He found that TV simply took over where 鈥渢he Internet鈥� left off during his month away. 鈥淚 find myself watching the weirdest stuff, the stupidest stuff 鈥� all this stuff I have no interest in, watching it just because it鈥檚 on鈥� (doesn鈥檛 this sound a little like our mass-media childhoods?) ... I鈥檓 watching Ice Road Truckers. I鈥檓 not interested in ice or the road or truckers, but [ever the optimist] it should be good.鈥�

Ten days into his month offline, he asks his parents what they鈥檙e seeing. You can barely hear them, but the upshot seems to be that they like having Eoin around 鈥� downstairs watching TV (somewhat ironically while they're in the next room watching Netflix, not TV), rather than upstairs in his room.

So this was interesting. There seems to be a trade-off in entertainment now that鈥檚 pretty common, but not given much thought: The more customized or tailored to you your entertainment is, the more solitary it is. Even with Eoin off the Internet and downstairs, his parents aren鈥檛 watching TV with him. Their entertainment interests are different, and they鈥檙e opting for those on a screen in the next room.

The value of stopping to think on it

Eoin鈥檚 friends 鈥� Aoife, Adam, and Lia 鈥� illustrated how individual entertainment (not just Internet use) is too. During their week away, each had a different experience. Aoife was really bored because her No. 1 form of entertainment is socializing with friends online, and she had to lay off that. Lia focused more on how backed up she got with her schoolwork because it was so dependent on using the Internet, while Adam found his school-related productivity increased. Lia also found that she talked with people in person more 鈥渁nd everything鈥檚 a bit more relaxed, slow-paced.鈥�

Clearly, the one value that they all derived was stopping to think about it. They all seemed to appreciate what they learned about themselves as well as technology upon taking the opportunity to stop and reflect. Besides Dr. Mc Mahon鈥檚 comment on presence, that鈥檚 probably everybody鈥檚 top take-away.

It鈥檚 the reflection (and articulation) part of experiences online or offline that turn them into experiential learning. Unplugging is fine, but it鈥檚 not the goal. It鈥檚 the means to the kind of learning and reflection that increase self-awareness, one of the that contribute to academic, personal, and social success.

Were Eoin ever to read this review, my only suggestion would be to redo the first 25 seconds 鈥� cut right to, 鈥淐an I, a self-professed Internet addict, live without the Internet for 30 days?鈥� Because starting with 鈥淚nternet addiction is becoming a serious problem, especially for young people鈥� is starting with a hypothesis based on a widely accepted fear that has become a clich茅. Good for you for investigating that for yourself, Eoin! You turned that introductory statement into a question in the rest of your film, why not pose it right from the start? Maybe parents and educators will take a cue and challenge that statement too.

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