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VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 PSYCHNEWS INTERNATIONAL Feb-Mar 1997
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SECTION A: EDITORIAL
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INTERNETWORKING POTENTIALS
- TOOL AND PEOPLE APPROACHES -
Sunkyo Kwon
The toddler phase of Internet growth for the psychological
and psychiatric disciplines is over. This is not to say
that working with the now generally well accessible
information and communication tools has exhausted its
(market) potential, but clever marketing people have de-
mystified the Internet, and made it possible for a large
number of professionals to network with relative ease. This
is undoubtedly a great enrichment, both for the practitioner
and the scientist. However, there are always two sides of a
coin. We know of the tremendous benefits that Internet-
working affords, and many are also aware of some harmful
effects and phenomena; just to name a few: Flame wars, ex-
cessive commercialism, magnified information explosion and
loss of bandwidth due to trivia and redundancy, software and
information piracy, world wide waits, cyberaddiction. This
article will not discuss these consequences but zoom in on a
particular aspect that should be of particular interest to
the PsychNews International readers, e.g. individuals
working with or for human beings: The Internet is a medium
for the people, run and used by people, and it functions as
a service to the people. As simple as this sounds, the
implications are grave.
What goes on in the mind of the psychologist or psychiatrist
who uses the Internet? Like most other users, at the
beginner's stage, he or she may be in awe and feel over-
whelmed by the opportunities that the medium offers. Others
may subject the tools at hand to a "critical test", for in-
stance by running literature searches or participating in
Usenet newsgroups or emailing lists to find that the medium
is not for them. On the other hand, they may eventually find
a good balance of newsgroups, email discussion forums,
favorite websites or Internet search devices that they can
work comfortably with, enhancing their own efficiency and
productivity. At this level, optimal usage is possible. The
attitude of the user can be labeled the Internet-as-a-tool
approach. As people working for people, we should however
also be aware of the potential new qualities that Internet-
working creates because people are involved. Such qualities
may include negative side effects, but also possibilities
for systematic usage and new kinds of services. This quality
has always been inherent in Internet usage, but it has been
brought to full awareness and discussed heatedly when its
limits became known -- even before serious applications had
been tested at full breadth and depth. We refer to this
"other side of the Net" as the Internet-for-people approach.
The Internet is a service of people for people. It may carry
distinct advantages over face-to-face interaction and
conventional tools for communication, like mail, fax or the
teleophone. With the new possibilities that the Internet
affords, we witness all the kinds of human behavior and
interaction as in real life: Some are the same, some are
magnified, and others more rare because of the nature of the
medium -- and they are not a 100% harmonious; the Global
Village has become a reality for us privileged few, but it
surely does not mirror just the good in all of us, and the
sense of community experienced by cybernauts is just as
vulnerable to crises and mishaps as in other relationships.
While researchers have started to investigate these pheno-
mena in a scientific manner, it is hard to keep up with the
technical developments. Once there were email discussion
groups, the newsgroups, MOOs and MUDs, and they will surely
stay with us -- but on the other hand, we encounter Internet
telephony and rapid sound transmissions, small-band video-
conferencing, and all kinds of interactive web magic that
seem well worth a try to construct variants of extending
services beyond marketing related to "mental health" to the
information superhighway. I am not explicitly endorsing
therapy and counseling through the Internet, given all the
ethical and professional problems that surround its aura,
but it needs to be re-thought what draws people to the Net,
what kinds of reinforcements they get, or what gives this
medium its special quality to enhance or suppress positive,
enlightening, possibly carthartic emotional reactions. We
need to know this both as serious users of the Internet, but
also as professionals that work for the good of people to
educate ourselves about malignant and beneficial effects
that accompany Internet-for-people usage. This is not only
practical knowledge for wise use of the Net beyond the "tool
approach", it may soon become a necessity, climbing the
rungs of the research-priority ladder, although at this
point, such a suggestion looks exotic and far-fetched. With
time passing, we need to be prepared to resort to validated
knowledge bases once new Internetworking attempts become
possible that open up new dimensions in influencing human
experience and behavior. The Internet is not just a "tool",
and it is surely more than just a fancy get-people-together
opportunity. The psychological principles that we examine
and apply to the real world ought to be tested in the
virtual world too, to realistically gauge the real pitfalls
and potentials.