Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
J Behav Addict. 2014 Mar;3(1):74-7. doi: 10.1556/JBA.2.2013.016. Epub 2013 Dec 6.
The purpose of the study was to seek a better insight into whether the online medium or the online activity was more important in relation to excessive online use. It is not clear whether those people who spend excessive amounts of time on the Internet are engaged in general Internet or whether excessive Internet use is linked to specific activities.
Perceived changes in Internet use habits as function of hypothetical accessibility of favorite sites were investigated in young adults. University students (n = 130, mean age = 20.6 years) who had (on average) spent over 20 hours a week on the Internet for at least nine years completed a survey. The most favored online activities and expected quality of life without Internet access were also investigated.
Findings revealed that social networking was by far the most popular online activity, and that lack of access to their preferred online activities would drop by 65% (as measured by perceived Internet usage). Approximately one in six participants (16%) claimed they would not even switch on the computer if access to their favorite online activities were unavailable. In relation to a hypothetical question about the quality of life without Internet access, the responses were normally distributed (rather than skewed).
These results show that time spent with Internet activity is not random and/or generalized, but appears more focused. Attraction or addiction on Internet to one or more specific behavior(s) may be a better way forward in the quest for better understanding excessive human behavior in the online environment.
本研究旨在深入探讨过度上网与在线媒介或在线活动之间的关系，哪种因素更为重要。目前尚不清楚过度上网的人群是热衷于一般的网络活动，还是过度上网与特定活动有关。
本研究调查了年轻人假设其最喜爱的网站更容易访问时，互联网使用习惯的变化。调查对象为 130 名大学生（平均年龄 20.6 岁），他们每周至少有 20 个小时上网，且已经持续了至少 9 年。研究还调查了他们最喜爱的在线活动和没有互联网时预期的生活质量。
研究结果表明，社交网络是迄今为止最受欢迎的在线活动，如果无法访问他们最喜爱的在线活动，那么社交网络的访问量将下降 65%（根据感知到的互联网使用量来衡量）。大约六分之一的参与者（16%）表示，如果无法访问他们最喜爱的在线活动，他们甚至不会打开电脑。在关于没有互联网时生活质量的假设性问题上，回答呈正态分布（而不是偏态分布）。
这些结果表明，上网时间并非随机且/或泛化的，而是更加集中。对互联网上一种或多种特定行为的吸引力或上瘾可能是更好的理解人类在网络环境中过度行为的方法。
