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New study doesn t distinguish between flaws and healthy behavior I ve long believed that the Internet exists solely because of our ego. Everything we do publicly online is an effort to be acknowledged. This week, two stories pointed out the frighteningly obvious: That students who use social networks are narcissistic and that a center for Internet addiction has opened up in Washington. Please researchers, enough with the leading questions The first story should be filed under the category of Trees are made of wood and other stuff we already knew that didn t require the expense of a university s resources. Regardless, bringing up the issue of what motivates students to use social networks makes us all realize why we re using the Internet. And that s to be acknowledged and to get recognized. The problem is the study lumped in divergent traits narcissism, self-promotion, and attention-seeking as being synonymous. Self-promotion and narcissism are two very different things. Nobody seeks or admires someone who is narcissistic, but we admire people who effectively and non-offensively self-promote. The study created many leading questions which has been a chronic irritation I ve had with organizations such as Forrester and IDC that conduct social media research (Read Social media research is chock full of leading questions ). In my critique, IDC asked leading questions as to what advertising people would be willing to see online and Forrester asked leading questions about trusting corporate blogs. No one wants to see ads and the brand of corporate blogs is like that of a used car salesman. No one wants either, but we use both. We have stereotypes, and in the cases I pointed out, research firms are just confirming existing stereotypes. They re not revealing how one goes around the stereotype or what formed the stereotype. In the case of the students that social network are narcissistic study, it s not revealing. We all knew the results before the study was even conducted. What would have been more interesting is asking people to dig further. Why do you feel the need to self-promote using social networks? Would you self-promote if you didn t have a social network at your disposal? Do you consider yourself as attention-seeking or narcissistic? What about your friends? Do you feel that some are truly narcissistic or are they just healthy self-promoters? That s the story we really need to know. Don t give us the lazy leading question answer we already know, but investigate. Take what we know and reveal to us something we don t know. What s truly a flaw and what s actually healthy behavior? How do you manage your Internet Addiction Disorder? Then there s the story this week of the Internet Addiction Disorder center, reSTART, that opened up here in the U.S. Upon reading the story, many of us laughed, mocking the people who are diagnosed as Internet addicted. But once you actually start reading the nine questions to determine if you are truly Internet addicted, you realize that many of those statements pertain to you. Just look at the first two: Have a strong desire or impulse to use the Internet. Decreasing or stopping of the Internet leads to withdrawal symptoms. I can t think of one person those two statements don t apply to. If that s the case, we re all Internet addicted. But then again, I think we re also addicted to our phones, television, and reading. These studies were so popular this week because they all made us question our own behaviors. Don t you feel a little self-centered or maybe even narcissistic when you re on a social network? And have you ever been on a vacation yet were still eager to check your email? Did you question your own behavior when you saw these stories? Did you question the research and the results of the social networking/narcissism story? Discussing Internet addiction and social networking narcissism with Curtis Sliwa on WABC Radio Curtis Sliwa on WABC Radio Last night I discussed these topics with radio personality and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, host of a very popular late night radio program on WABC Radio. He joked that his phone screener, Goldbrick, was heavily addicted to the Internet and was shotgunning Redbulls just to stay awake so he could stay online longer. Listen to or download the funny and engaging 13-minute conversation. Download audio file (curtis_sliwa_082509_post.mp3) David Spark helps businesses grow by developing thought leadership through storytelling and covering live events at Spark Media Solutions. He blogs at The Spark Minute and can be heard and seen regularly on ABC Radio, Cranky Geeks with John C. Dvorak, and KQED in San Francisco. See his business profile, contact David, or leave a comment below.

Indie media mavericks Michael W. Dean and Joseph Matheny interview each other. (Part one of two. Part two will be up on Greylodge and The GSpot in two weeks.)Fri, 11 April 2008 22 min. from CloneTheHomeless.com RSS feed Michael W. Dean and Joseph Matheny chat on the phone and theres no way these two talkers could interview one or the other. So they rap together, in concentric hypertextual parenthetical way, TCP over IP, about how to make money by giving away art, where the Internet is headed, changing views on changing protection of intellectual property, Joseph Campbell, suing Disney for intellectual property violation, how to self-publish your brilliant books, Tom Jennings, why control of your art is more important than lots of money, how to assemble your own vigilant army of the damned, The Pirate Bay, Cease-and-Desist letters, the Church of the Subgenius, BoingBoing, the WELL, Creative Commons, sex, cats, art and an incredible amount more of nifty stuff. Part two will cover the coming collapse of the infrastructure of the world, why Catholics are killing the world with overpopulation, and why both of these guys just wanna do the judo master thing and step out of the worlds way, while still running it all from their rural bunkers.Share This

Jeffrey s memoir about the end of Pop Art, Modernism and Post-Modernism and the birth of the 5 Dimensional Universe of Omni Art. Music today is from Podsafe Music Network artist Robert Willey and is titled: Winter Solstice.

Jeffrey s memoir about the end of Pop Art, Modernism and Post-Modernism and the birth of the 5 Dimensional Universe of Omni Art. Music today is from Podsafe Music Network artist Robert Willey and is titled: Winter Solstice.

D.luxe will discuss the Bratz Doll phenomenon, and the possible effects it has on the pre teen girls it's marketed to. Author: D.Luxe Keywords: D.luxe Bratz movies music marketing youth culture Aired Live: 2007-06-25 17:00:19

What do a bharatnatyam school in the US, the British Asian youth scene and aboriginal land claims in Australia have in common? A fresh look at multiculturalism, democracy, and integration with a desi spin.