Technological Progression = Societal Regression

I never realized how quickly the world would change. I use the word ‘change’, as opposed to ‘progress’, because that would suggest development towards an improved or more advanced condition. It seems that we were so intent on moving forward with technology, and we’ve succeeded… but the social impact of such rapid technological advances really wasn’t something we had thought out too thoroughly. Now the repercussions are becoming increasingly apparent.

The New York Times recently created a video about Daxing Center, a military-style rehab in Beijing for teenagers who are addicted to the internet. Literally addicted to the internet like the way people are addicted to alcohol or drugs. “Electronic heroin” is the term the specialists use to describe it.

For gaming addicts like those profiled in the Daxing Center video, their personal hygiene often plays second field to their addiction. “Some of these kids are so hooked on these games,” addiction specialist Tao Ran explained, “that they think taking a restroom break will affect their performance at these games. So they wear a diaper.” It is also very common for gaming addicts to cease bathing and dental hygiene.

In late 2012 a 24-year-old man from Thailand was found dead, slumped in his computer chair after a series of all-night internet gaming sessions.

Similarly, a 23-year-old Taiwanese man died while sitting at the computer of an internet café after playing the game League Of Legends for 23 hours straight. The other visitors didn’t even realise, because his hand was still on the computer mouse.

“They play to the point of losing themselves.” Tao Ran explains.

It’s easy to understand how. These days our society & culture revolves around the internet, whether we like it or not.

Back in 2008 Trey Parker wrote the South Park episode #1206 ‘Over Logging’ that took a satirical look into just how dependent society has become towards the internet. When the internet in ‘South Park’ suddenly stops working one morning, the town goes into a hysterical panic. The local television station has no news to report, because no one has internet access to research the top stories.

In the episode Randy Marsh (voiced by Trey Parker) lies helplessly frail and sickly on the lounge complaining, “I need to get on Web MD and find out why I have this cough, but I can’t.” Although humorous, it’s a social commentary on another worrying trend of using the internet to self-diagnose illnesses. According to the Australian Medical Association three in four Australians have turned to the internet for medical advice, with one in five of those people admitting to having misdiagnosed themselves.

Hypochondriasis has taken a new form with the The Independent newspaper coining the term ‘cyberchondria’ in 2001 which describes, “the excessive use of internet health sites to fuel health anxiety.” The term even received further use in 2003’s British Medical Journal publication Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry.

On a different end of the spectrum, research has shown that an alarming number of users consult their friends on Facebook before making the decision to schedule a doctor’s appointment. Doctors fear that if this trend continues people that seek medical advice via social media could risk downplaying symptoms that could be signs of a far more serious problem.

Understandably doctors are concerned that their professional advice and expertise could be substituted by online advice. Looking back, the internet has practically replaced so many different services in everyday life – dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, translators, banks, shopping, recipe books, television guides, newspapers, photo albums, music, televisions, films, videos, DIY guides, mail, invitations, telephone calls, airfares, live performance tickets, faxes – and there are more.

“People who spend more than six hours on the internet for something other than work or study,” Tao Ran explained, “are most likely to become addicted to the internet.”

Another addiction that has been made far more accessible is an addiction to pornography. Pornography is possibly the most thriving underground industry in the western world with a new porn video being created every 39 minutes according to BuzzFeed. They estimate that there are currently more than 4 million porn websites on the internet, and there are over 68 million pornographic internet searches every day. Research has found that viewing pornography affects the brain by releasing the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is commonly found in cocaine and amphetamines – which we know to be very addictive drugs in their own right.

The widespread availability of pornography is also explored in the men’s desperation for internet porn in the South Park episode. “I got used to being able to see anything at the click of a button.” Randy explains.
“We all got used to seein’ lots of really perverted stuff on the Internet,” one character theorises, “so now we can’t exactly go back to Playboy.”

Bobcat Goldthwaite’s black comedy film World’s Great Dad (2009) tells the story of a manipulative, hostile and pornography-addicted 15-year-old’s autoerotic asphyxiation, and how his anti-social behavior made him so unlikable that no one actually cared about his death. Addicts tend to be anti-social, with many preferring to watch porn than leave the house.

“They know the internet inside out,” Tao Ran reflected, “but nothing about human beings.”

The fictional internet famine in ‘South Park’ also affects 13-year-old Shelley Marsh (voiced by April Stewart), who spends the entire episode fretting that, without the internet, she cannot chat online to her boyfriend Amir from Montana. However later when they both encounter each other face to face by chance, they briefly engage in awkward small talk before quickly making excuses to leave. Once Amir is out of sight Shelly triumphantly choruses, “We’re back together! We’re back together!”

This lack of vital real-life social skills is becoming incredibly common with teenagers who constantly use the internet. Psychologist James Borg stated in his book Body Language: 7 Easy Lessons to Master the Silent Language that 93% of human communication is body language. Currently with 1.4 billion people worldwide socializing with each other via Facebook, misunderstandings are inevitable without the use of body language and physical communication. ‘Fights’ and arguments are commonplace among the comments sections of websites such as YouTube. Many people pride themselves as internet ‘trolls’, quick to dish out witty and often insulting comments towards others.

But when confronted in real-life, many of these ‘trolls’ lack the social skills to stand up for themselves. Jessica Leonhardt from Marion County in Florida is now a widely cited example of over-confidence behind the computer monitor, and how the world saw her crumble when things became too real.

Then only 11-years-old, Leonhardt (better known by her screen pseudonym ‘Jessi Slaughter’) aroused anger among the internet community for many reasons – her online persona on her YouTube videos portrayed a conceited, spoilt, foul-mouthed, overly (and inappropriately) sexualized little girl in push-up bras and heavy makeup who bragged about an alleged relationship with 25-year-old electro-pop musician Dahvie Vanity. Naturally Leonhardt received some criticism.

In response to the criticism, she posted a YouTube video where she announced to her viewers to, “Get AIDS and die… Fist yourself to your little bestiality magazines, get a paper-cut on your f**king little c**t or d**k and hope the bitch falls off. Get AIDS and die. Suck a d**k and die.” Earlier in the video she threatened that if anyone ‘hated on’ her that she would, “Pop a glock in your mouth and make a brain-slushee.” Anyone who knows how internet terrorists work, will know that they can uncover and spread just about anything they want about someone, short of their blood type. 

So they did just that, and in a very short amount of time they began circulating her real name, phone number and residential address. Over the next three days Leonhardt began receiving constant prank phone calls, death threats, spam on all her social network accounts, false pizza deliveries and almost had call girls from Craigslist sent to the address. Needless to say her parents - who had no idea the trouble their daughter had been stirring on the internet - were “very afraid” according to her mother Dianne. Like most kids when confronted by their parents, Jessica told them that it was the people online that were wreaking this sudden havoc, but left out the part about her own initiating it. To a child telling the truth isn’t nearly as important as avoiding punishment.

The next video Jessica Leonhardt posted on YouTube showed the chaotic household of the frightened family… and their hysterically sobbing daughter, evidently riddled with guilt. It was a far cry from the boastful child’s usual attitude, who had confidently declared in her previous video, “You people don’t faze me!”

Her father Gene, aggressively yelled at the camera obviously under the impression that he was talking directly to the ‘haters’:

“I know who it’s coming from, because I backtraced it! And I know who’s emailing and who’s doin’ it and you’ve been reported to the Cyber Police and the State Police. If you write one more thing and screw with my computer again and you’ll be arrested!”

Gene Leonhardt’s threats would have been very intimidating had the online community been unaware that you cannot “backtrace” content on the internet and that there is no such organization as “the Cyber Police”, but to the ‘haters’ in cyberspace this was merely common knowledge. Her failure to confess the whole truth of the matter and tell her parents about the racy YouTube videos that had sparked the whole fiasco resulted in her concerned father’s attempt to stand up for her to be immortalized and mocked forever. “As a father, I was just trying to support my daughter.” Gene Leonhardt said on Good Morning America afterwards.

Jessica was born in the later portion of mother’s reproductive life. “My daughter is an only child. She was our miracle child, because I had cervical cancer and was told I couldn’t have children,” Dianne Leonhardt recalled in an interview with Momlogic, “Then on two years to the date of my recovery, I wasn’t feeling well and found out I was pregnant.” Gene and Dianne Leonhardt grew up in an era before the internet and the culture and dangers that lurk within it existed. It was clear that Jessica’s parents had no understanding of computers and the internet, hence the reason why she was able to get away with so much for such a long time.

Ten years ago, only 11.5% of the world's population had the internet [according to the Internet World Stats for February 2004]. Internet access in households was primarily dial-up and disconnected the home phone-line - much to the dismay of grandparents who were trying to call to tell you about your 2nd cousin's fiancé's sister's dentist (that you've never met) who's retiring (or some other news of equal irrelevance to you). Internet access on mobile phones was 'primitive' (I can't believe I just used the terms 'mobile phones', 'internet access' and 'primitive' in the same sentence) and only used by suit-clad businessmen who couldn't afford to miss an important email on their train commute home. To share a photograph with friends it would have to be developed along with 23 other shots on the roll of film and physically shown to them. Even then, the photographer had no control over whether the image would be ‘good’ or flattering. Not only do digital cameras give us the luxury of viewing and sharing our photographs immediately, taking unlimited shots and being able to delete the ‘duds’, but the invention of smartphones has given every owner access to a still-shot and video recording device in the palm of their hand.

Although incredibly innovative and revolutionary technological inventions, when put in the hands of the wrong person disaster can ensue. As nonsensical as Gene Leonhardt’s infamous YouTube rant may have been, he may have unintentionally given a great piece of advice when he shouted to the people of cyberspace, “Consequences will never be the same!”

The internet has changed society forever, and there’s no turning back to evaluate the potential risks that has arisen from its widespread availability and use. We have been thrown head first into the cyber world.