DAMMAM, 3 February — Man is a social animal. No one has doubted this philosophy for centuries. But now the Internet, it appears, has made some of us doubt this theory. The social animal is now sometimes secluded. He confines his existence to the computer screen and interacts with an imaginative world that is far from reality. Is the Internet really affecting social relationships? Is alienation increasing as a result of excessive Internet use? These questions are currently being debated by sociologists and psychologists.
A recent news report revealed that a London website has called for an Internet-free day in the week. This stems from the fact that Net users have been too involved in the cyberworld. A few months ago a study revealed that excessive Internet use was affecting family relationships.
Medical professionals have already discussed the effects of excessive Internet use on physical health. Excessive use has affected eyesight and caused hypertension. And now the debate is beginning about the effects on social relationships. It is fairly well-established that in the past few years, because of the Internet, relationships have undergone tremendous changes. An eminent Indian sociologist from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Professor S. Shirin, says that people are getting more and more involved in the cyberworld rather than the real world. Another sociologist says, “The Internet has taken users into a world where there are no miseries and no poverty, no tension and no sense of loss. It is human nature psyche to be attracted to such a world.”
When a Net user enters into cyberspace, he can adjust everything according to his wishes: Age, financial status, talents and abilities. A Net surfer tends to create his own unreal world and then starts believing in it. Once he becomes part of the unreal world, he hates to face the real world and so avoids whatever reminds him of reality.
Such avoidance of social interaction eventually leads to alienation. Dr. Hannah, a psychologist in Alkhobar, says that there has been a sharp increase in schizophrenia recently. Although she said that it was not necessarily due to the Internet, it does bear partial responsibility.
The worst effect has been observed on children who have become more reclusive and less willing to interact with their peers. The playground for today’s children is too often the computer screen, with keyboards his teammates and game partners. His social circle has been reduced to a computer screen where he chats with other children and young people. “I prefer friends on the Net to those at school. Net friends cause no harm and are so good,” said Amit, a ninth grader at Dhahran Academy.
Amit is typical of thousands of children who want to experience only the bright side of life with no hint of the dark. Dr. Hannah maintains that this tendency creates an imbalance in the child’s personality and leads to a lack of confidence when he or she has finally to meet the real world.
With this as a backdrop, a call for a day’s break from the Net sounds like a good idea. It will be good — and beneficial to both individuals and society as a whole — to experience a dose of reality along with a pinch of Internet fantasy and imagination.
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