Technology addicts offered treatment

Visiting social networking sites, online gaming, online shopping- seem to be usual activities which are somehow enrolled in our everyday lives. Nowadays, we cannot imagine a day without a computer and our favorite websites. However, isn't it going too far sometimes? I'm sure all of us can find at least one example of a person whose life is dominate by new media or to some extend distorted: some of these people cannot go out witout the mobile; some do not go out at all cause their social life takes place in the SNSs(social networking sites) and some of them prefer meeting creatures from their favourite game.

The post was inspired by the recent event which concerns the case of a couple from South Korea who let their baby starve to death when they were busy playing online game Prius for 12 hours [sic]. It was not the first case in which technology caused problems in everyday life. That is why in South East Asia spreaded online gambiling clinics. As Zoe Kleinman BBC news technology reporter says a treatment in London is also available:

The programme is designed for young people who spend large amounts of time each day playing computer games or using social network websites.
When deprived they become "chronically agitated and irritable" said the treatment's founder Dr Richard Graham.
Dr Graham's treatment programme lasts 28 days if done intensely.
However it is not designed to wean people entirely off using technology, he told BBC News.
"It's not realistic to have an abstinence programme," he said.

"Most addictive behaviours peak in youth and you're more likely to be male - but the internet is gender neutral.
"The preoccupation with accessing sites and responding to messages is so compelling that it gets prioritised... it can impact on other areas of life and skew young people's ability to engage in other activities."

Well...the majority of us probably do not want to admit that this problem concerns also us.
Thinking about myself, I do not really want to know how many times I visited my facebook profile or my gmail today (even while writing this post).
As it was said by Graham "You can't avoid the internet, you can't avoid technology" but I think we should be alert and observe if our behavior is not getting out of control.

To sum up, I have attached one movie which is a record of a behavior of a boy whose mother deleted his warcraft account. For me it is scary:/

Video conferencing and Elluminate

I have to admit that this is the first video conference class I have ever attended.
At the very beginning I was a little bit sceptical about this way of conducting lectures, however later I was impressed.
Since I could not attend the course from the first classes I had to start everything by myself (even though I was recommended to meet the assisstant, my ambition did not let me).
All in all, I did not have any problems while accessing the programme, installing it, and later on, managed it. I really liked the Elluminate's functions like : bravo, disagreement, raise ur hand, etc. They enable one to interact with the lecturer and remain active during the lecture, while still lying on the bed and drinking tea :)btw, it is so great for me that I can be completely relaxed and comfortable in my room and at the same time I am focused on the lecture and hear exactly what the professor is saying cause I have earplugs in.
In my opinion, video conferencing is the future for global education (and education for lazy people too ;)
But...to be honest...there is no room for laziness. U cannot just stay online and go out cause u never know when the question gets u! :)
Even though we r in our home environment, it does not make the classes less serious. And actually I really like it.

Introduction

This blog was created with the aim of reporting on the usage of new media and their influence on society. It is a part of a course of New Media and Society which I am taking during the spring semester 2010 at the Faculty of Social Sciences at University of Ljubljana.

Few words about me...

I am an Erasmus student from Poland where I am doing my MA in the field of Cultural Studies at the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities.
At the Faculty of Social Sciences at University of Ljubljana I have already been taking the second semester, however approaching New Media from the scholar perspective is something new for me.

Media and its impact on society remain in the field of my interests. I am particularly keen on the mechanisms of promotion via new media, especially by means of social networking websites.

I'm also optimistic about improving my skills in using these new media devices and programmes which were unfamiliar for me before.