In the article “Seeking” by Emily Yoffee, Yoffee mentions that seeking is the “motivational engine that each day gets us out of the bed… to venture forth into the world.” It is also the reason we search for information on the Internet that we do not particularly care about. Yoffee poses the following question: “Ever find yourself sitting down at the computer just for a second to find out what other movie you saw that actress in, only to look up and realize the search has led to an hour of Googling?” I must admit, I rarely encounter this problem. If I am searching the Internet with a purpose, I am usually satisfied enough upon finding the answer that I do not resort to random searching.
Now, Facebook? That’s a different story. I may start on Facebook by looking at the new profile picture of one of my friends, only to find myself an hour later looking at pictures of her sister’s best friend’s cousin’s wedding. According to Yoffee, electronic communication devices such as Facebook feed the same drive as Google searches. When something unexpected is found, or when there is the anticipation of finding something new, the dopamine system is activated. The system is further activated if the rewards come unpredictably. Consider Facebook. I check my Facebook page constantly with the anticipation of a new notification or message. This “reward” comes unexpectedly, and so I feel a slight jolt of anticipation and excitement every time I click the refresh the button. But rarely does the reward live up to the anticipation. As Yoffee says, “our brains are designed to more easily be stimulated than satisfied.” To me, it seems as though the anticipation is the reward.
The article by Klapperstuck and Kearns also talks about social networking sites, but from the perspective of privacy. As the authors mention in the article, teens today use media as an extension of their own life, used to connect with their peers and others in the community. However, they have a somewhat blurred distinction between private and public information. Though teens are often aware that anyone can access public online profiles, they often wonder why any stranger would care to do such a thing. It does happen, however, and so it is important when using social networking sites such as Facebook to limit the information that is public in order to protect one’s privacy.
I think the point you make - that the reward rarely lives up to the anticipation - is key. One thing we can think about as educators is how we help students find rewards that satisfy.
ReplyDeletePS - The chapter "Wired Life" is actually by Klapperstuck and Kearns. (As their conference roommate, I am duty-bound to say that!) Cvetkovic & Lackie are the editors.
Kristin - thanks for catching my mistake! I edited the part about the authors.
ReplyDeleteI think almost all of us face the facebook problem. It's an easy distraction. It's just like getting a letter in the mail, but the letters come more frequently.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about teens needing to know about the possible ramifications of posting things online and how to use privacy settings to keep information such as location, phone number, address, etc. private.
I had to laugh at your facebook problem, and have found myself doing the same thing and then asking, "What are you doing?! And who are you looking at?" numerous times. It really is an easy distraction and an essay avenue for our seeking nature.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the reward we end up getting very rarely satisfies our expectations. I agree with Kristin above, that it is really important as teachers that we help students find satisfying and beneficial rewards.