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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1998)
Internet leaves users depressed Web time isn’t emotionally fulfilling, study shows PITTSBURGH (AP) - The more hours people spend on the Internet, the more depressed, stressed and lonely they feel, according to a groundbreaking study that surprised its authors. Internet use had the same effect even for people who spent most of their time in such social activities as chat rooms or exchanging e-mail, said the study headed by Robert Kraut, a social psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh Sociable Internet users ended up feeling just as isolated as users who spent more time crawling the Web for information, Kraut said Sunday. One reason for the negative effect may have been that using the Internet left less time for the deeper relation ships of friends and family, Kraut suggested. “People are substituting weaker social ties for stronger ones,” he said. “They’re substituting conversations on narrower topics with strangers for conversations with people who are connected to their life.” It was the first study to examine the emotional impact of people’s Internet use ova- time, Kraut said The findings contradicted the researchers’ expectation that Internet use would foster social contact, espe cially through e-mail and chat rooms. Kraut and his colleagues followed 93 Pittsburgh-area families for two years. The families were given com puters, phone lines and use of the Internet for free, in return for agree ing to fill out occasional question naires. The true-false questionnaires included such statements as “I can’t find companionship when I want it,” “I felt that everything I did was an effort,” and “I felt I could not shake off the blues, even with help from my family and friends.” The number of hours they spent on line were recorded electronically. Participants’ levels of depression and loneliness were measured at the start of the study. At the end of the two years, researchers found they could predict changes in an individual’s emotional state according to die num ber of hours spent on die Internet. The reverse was not true. “Depression and loneliness doesn’t predict subsequent use of the Internet,” Kraut said. The $1.5 million study was fund ed by the National Science Foundation, the Markle Foundation and 13 computer, software and com munications companies, including AT&T Research, Bell Atlantic, the U.S. Postal Service, Apple Computer, Hewlett Packard and Intel. It is to be published this week in The American Psychologist, the monthly journal of the American Psychological Association. One study participant, 17-year old Andrea Rubinsky of Pittsburgh, said she didn’t feel any worse for her Internet use, although her Internet use has dropped since the study began. She started out using it 10 to 15 hours per week but now averages about three hours, she said. “It just also might be I have more things to do now,” Andrea said. She made no lasting friends through the chat rooms, she said, but does use e-mail to keep up with friends she has met in person. Her father, Peter, also didn’t feel he ever neglected personal relation ships to spend time online. “I would say there’s a conflict with other things that needed to get done. The grass didn't get mowed sometimes, and the car didn’t get washed,” Rubinsky said. Researchers will continue the study so they can examine the mecha nisms that seem to produce emotional effects and learn how computer use compares with television use. Other scientists told The New York limes that the research may start a debate over how the Internet should be shaped. Christine Riley, a psychologist at Oregon-based Intel, told the Times the research results surprised her but that more study was needed. Tora Bikson, a senior scientist at» Rand, the research institution, said the study was carefully done and not eas ily ignored. Global issues take the stage Dorothy “Dot” Ridings will set the foundation for the 1998-99 E.N. Thompson lectures at UNL. Ridings, the president and chief executive officer of the Council of Foundations, will kick off the E.N. Thompson Forum ofWorid Issues lec ture series Sept 9 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts with her lecture, “As the World Turns: Global Giving Goes Center Stage.” The lecture will begin at 3:30 p m and will be available via satellite at sites throughout the state. Ridings will describe how founda tions have increased greatly around the world in the past decade. In 1996, foundations contributed $14 billion in the United States alone, she said, but with fewer government resources available, foundations and other non governmental organizations will have to do more. Record stock market growth and an expected international transfer of more than $10 trillion over the next 40 years leads Ridings to believe orga nized philanthropy will be encouraged even more. Her lecture is the first of five in this year’s series. The others are: ■ Oct. 13: Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University professor and cwator in entomology at die Museum of Comparative Zoology, Havrar University, “Consilience: the Unity of Knowledge.” ■ Nov. 12: Robert K. Hitchcock, chairman and associate professor of anthropology at NU, “Africa: Environmental Conservation, Development and Human Rights.” ■ March 9: Anthony Lake, former national security adviser to President Clinton, “Superpower or Supercop: Dangers and Opportunities in the Post Cold War Era.” ■ April 14: Peter Arnett, Pulitzer Prize-winning CNN international cor respondent, “Live for the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad to Bosnia.” Serial kiUer expert to speak The founder of the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program will share his expertise on serial killers, sexual violence and the criminal mind on Thursday. A part of the Nebraska Wesleyan lecture series, Robert Ressler’s presen tation will be in the O’Donnell Auditorium, 50th Street and Huntington Avenue, at 1 p.m. It’s free and open to the public. Ressler saved with the FBI from 1970 to 1990 and has investigated and interviewed serial killers including Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy and David Berioowitz. -- • • v • v. Particle lecture to be given The UNL Department ofPhysics and Astronomy will present a lecture by Steven L. Guberman on Thursday called, “What Happens When a Molecule Captures an Electron.” Guberman is with the Institute for Scientific Research in Lexington, Mass. He will speak at 4 p.m. in the Brace Laboratory auditorium, Room 211. Refreshments will served at 3:30 in Room 201. Speaker to discuss proteins Cad Frieden will be a guest of the UNL chemistry department on Friday to give his lecture, “The Search for Intermediates in tire Protein Folding Process.” Frieden is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. He will talk at 3:30 p.m. in Hamilton Hall, Room 110. Come down Aug 31 - Sept 4 Present your student ID to get a chance in our drawing for a Trek Mountain Bike! «KL€IN‘ • -• ’ ' ' > ■ jit fc'‘" r ' - IP’.":' l;'. • - - « - - - ' - • ' ’ abortion care kind, confidential services , . j • Outpatient Care • Awake or Asleep • Parental No tification Assistance • Immediate Appointments, In ducing Saturdays • Total OBABYN Health Care • Full Time, Board Certified OB/GYN Physicians • Dr. G. W. Onr&Dr. CJ LaBenz OMAHA* 664-0110, TOLL-FREE • 1-800-922-8331 201 S. 40th St, Omaha NE 68132 httpJ/gynpages.oom/omaha MR M | _ _i ! \ 3 I v | jry, THE Husker student group on campus. Come get an application at the Athletic Marketing Office, 117 South Stadium, Lincoln, NE 68588-0153 OR call 472-0775 OR e-mail huskerfury@huskers.unl.edu. I HuskerFury is open to every full-time student, except student-athletes. ■ I Keep Your Options Open! I UNL’s most popular courses in... Accounting Agricultural Economics AG LEC Art History Biological Sciences Broadcasting Classics Economics English Family Sciences Finance Geography Health History Industrial Systems Journalism Management Marketing Mathematics Nursing Nutrition Philosophy Physics Political Science Psychology Real Estate Sociology Technical Writing ... Are available through UNL College Independent Study: • Study and take exams when your schedule allows, when you're ready. • Take as long as a year or as few as 35 days to complete a course. • Send an average of six assignments per course to your instructor, andf receive rapid turnaround of your materials. Call 472-4321 for a free College Independent Study catalog, or visit our office at the Clifford Hardin Nebraska Center for ■ Continuing Education, -- ________________... _ JSm- Si
