This timely volume explores the psychological aspects of cyberspace, a virtual world in which people from around the globe are acting and interacting in many new, unusual, and occasionally alarming ways. Drawing on research in the social sciences, communications, business, and other fields, the book examines how the online environment can influence the way we behave, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Our own on-line behavior then becomes part of the Internet's psychological environment for others, creating opportunities for shaping the way this new territory for human interaction is unfolding. Because the Internet - and our experience within it - is still young, we have a rare window of opportunity to influence the course of its development.
First, a disclaimer: I started this book in July last year,1 and I picked it up again last week so I can finally take it back to the school library before my librarian voodoo gets noticed. What this means is that I have little-to-no memory of the first six chapters of this book, apart from the fact that the introduction is very, very slow, she starts by looking at communities and personas (although her definiton of communities is rather narrow) and moving into more detail (she looks at flame wars, addiction, altriuism...) and the author ended up using something called LambdaMOO as an example of how online communities are run.
Second: This book was published in 1999.
... I think everyone understands why I'm pointing that out.
I guess, as the book's about the people using the internet, it might not date as quickly, but damn am I leery about it. I'm also going to guess that the age of the book is why it focuses on direct communication (email, mailing lists, chat rooms, MUDs, mmorpgs, Usenet) with only a brief mention of personal webpages (in that really slow introduction) and blogs. It bothered me when I was reading it, before I actually checked the publication date, because she was talking about anonymity and how people share intimate details with people they met on the internet, and I kept waiting for something linked to "What about people who share intimate details with an audience?"
Apart from that (look, it bothered me, okay), I suppose it's not bad. It's bland, certainly, but it reads like it was written by someone who actually knows what the internet it, even if they don't venture too far into it. No sensationalisation here! Lots of case studies (and maybe this is me being being a psychology/anecdote geek, but I like that in a book.), and they are, for the most part, worked into the text instead of just thrown in, and generally the book does pretty well at keeping it in plain english. It takes a brief look at both porn and gender issues, and this is where the lack of sensationalisation is most obvious, but both are brief. Neither looks very deeply into what they're discussing, and dammit, she could. Then again, I read the chapter on gender fresh from a) an English exam about the features of gendered speech she covers, and b) the Organisation of Transformative Works discussion on how they're being accused of elitism because they're not actively courting men for the OTW, so I was probably being demanding about how much I wanted.
And that's my main problem with it. It's bland, and if you spend any time on the internet, you'll probably come across all the points she makes here, done in more detail and in a more entertaining style. If you want something that'll give you an overview, or if you like reading about psychology studies, then go for it. Otherwise... There are better things out there, and most of them are actually on the internet, as well as about it.
1: I got the book out in July after my psychology teacher tried to teach us library skills and I got offended by her assuming I could be one of the librarians without them. Then she saw what I'd actually got out and borrowed it so she could use it for the notes when she got round to teaching us about "mediated relationships." I didn't see the book again for a month. :S
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