Positive Reinforcement for
Negative Behavior With everything being stated about the positive reinforcement for negative behavior, what does this topic have to do with Internet addiction? First off, more in-depth information on Internet addiction can be found on this site at Are You Addicted to the Internet?. With that being said, positive reinforcement for negative behavior has three main links into Internet addiction.
1) Downloading--
The first relates to the addiction of downloading computer software from the Internet. Just about anything computer related can be found within the vast world of the Internet: movies, audio files, video games, mp3's, photos, and all the necessary hardware used to run programs. Not only can one download these programs and software from their home computer, but most of the computer software can be downloaded for free.
The word 'free' stirs up a lot of attention in people. One prime example is a user from New Zealand named Hitman. When he isn't DJ'ing at a local club, Hitman is on the Internet constantly searching for every mp3 program, as well as publishing, financing, and designing applications (Maclean's, Nov. 8, 1999, 45). Moreover, Hitman started downloading software for both Macintosh and Windows, as he puts it, "In case I want to buy a PC" (Maclean's, 46). Downloading software for Hitman has become a compulsive disorder, (see ADD, OCD, eBay and Gambling on this Web site). Downloading has become a huge part of surfing the Internet. For example, each month, over 100,000 surfers download the program from Hotline Communications that "swipes applications and ogles porn," and 22% of these surfers are under 18 (Maclean's, Nov. 8, 1999, 43). Obviously, the downloading of software has become a huge function of the Internet. "Free" software on the Internet, however, does not mean that the software is legal.
Bootlegged Software has also become a huge part of the Internet, even though the activity is illegal. The game of Doom is one example. People who offer the game for free on the Internet have bootlegged the software and are pirating the game. Anyone who has downloaded free software from the Internet may have downloaded that software illegally, without even knowing it. If you have downloaded any program from the Internet, and the program was bootlegged, that means that you have already been involved in a negative behavior on the Internet. Offering tons of links and deals for "free" software only incites people to go back to the Internet for more downloads.
2) Gaming and Expanding--
The second relationship between Internet addiction and the positive reinforcement for negative behavior is closely related to the first. The free downloads of bootlegged games, such as Doom, Quake, and other violent games, offers the possibility for addiction to gaming and expanding. These two terms refer to the involvement of acquiring new 'games' and playing them, while 'expanding' upon the capabilities of a particular game. The Internet is a place for surfers to find passwords, cheat codes, and instructions on certain games which mesmerize the videogame player. Repeat visits to gaming sites become addictive to the surfer in downloading new wad files, which expand the capabilities of the game, and in turn, add new levels or options to the game.
3) Video Game Addiction--
Video games are known to be addicting Video Game Culture: Leisure and Play Preferences of Teens . Because the games are addicting, the connection between video games and the Internet is the cause for the third relationship between addiction and the positive reinforcement for negative behavior.
My father and I were once addicted to video games. I "passed" the test for Internet addiction on the Web site. netaddiction.com . I could not get enough of the game called Civilization, which involves the process of building up your own civilization. In order to win the game, you have to build up your science, armies, and relations with other civilizations. A normal game can take up to 50 hours, usually done in many sittings. I was obsessed with this game. I would sit at home on a Saturday night, instead of going out with friends, and play the game until dawn the next day. Of course, I wouldn't finish the game and so every spare moment of my time was dedicated to strategizing how I would conquer my enemies. For months on end the cycle continued until my parents had to take away the game from me.
My father was almost as bad. He would play Solitaire and Strategic Conquest instead of writing speeches for work. When anyone walked into the room, my father would quickly switch back to Microsoft Word, pretending to write the speech. Again, my father stayed up until all hours of the night, leaving my mother in their bed, alone. My mother also put a stop to this, by taking the games away, after several months of frustration.
From personal experience, the very nature of video games is addicting. Arcades, which explicitly endorse video games, are businesses that make a significant amount of money, through the addicting nature of the games. Kids keep on putting quarters in the machine in the hopes of that lucky chance of winning the next game. Arcades, have only been around for the last 15 years, since the growth of the invention of the first video game, Pong, in the late 1970's. Because video games are addicting, related to the Internet, and some are even realistically violent, positive reinforcement for negative behavior stands a correlation for Internet addiction. See Are You Addicted to the Internet? on this Web site)
Addiction in the Workplace--
The behavior of addiction and downloading continues into the work place. Although the positive aspects of the Internet can increase productivity of the workplace, there can be problems of over-zealous use of the Internet by employees (Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Apr. 15, 1996, 25). More specific examples of the workplace and the Internet's hindrance can be found under Economy and Government on this Web site).
Addicted employees waste company time and money. I hold a job in the Hamilton College Student Activities Center in Beineke Village where I answer phones and monitor the building. Most of my time spent at work is on the Internet, where I download mp3's. I am actually getting paid to surf the Web. Granted, this is part-time job while I am attending college, but what about those employees in corporate jobs who waste time and money personally searching the Internet? Yet the example of Kevin seen earlier in the section (see Do We Encourage Negative Behavior? on this Web page) was wasting his entire eight-hour shift viewing pornographic material because he was addicted. Again, addiction is a negative behavior sponsored by the positive reinforcement of the Internet.
Conclusion
From children to the workplace, there are many forms of positive reinforcement for negative behavior. The topics of cults, pornography, hate, violence, video games, and downloading have all been discussed and related to the central theme. The positive reinforcement for negative behavior definitely plays a role in Internet addiction, and can become an influential effect. The Internet is here, and it is here to stay. We must educate our future generations to use the Internet wisely and responsibly. The Internet is a vast tool of knowledge and communication. Do not let the Internet overwhelm its influence of positive reinforcement for negative behavior upon you.
