Today, the internet is a growing community. Millions of people from all over the world go “online” everyday to check email, research, shop, or even just interact with someone halfway around the world. As this community grows, so does the number of interactions between people. The Psychology of the Internet examines the psychology of new behavior produced by this novel method of human communication. It also delves into the business sector of the internet and how certain companies are using this medium to increase productivity within their companies and corporations.

The book provides several examples of how the internet can affect the quality of an organization’s production. When used in the appropriate manner, the internet can facilitate interaction between a group 24 hours a day and is only limited by the availability of a telephone line. The idea that a person must be in work and at his desk for production is becoming more obsolete as companies realize the potential of the internet.

One impressive way the internet can help companies is the workgroups that can be formed internati

onally. A workgroup is a group of employees striving to achieve the same objective. In the traditional sense, these groups are formed in a room with notepads for each person to help them brainstorm and meetings at regular intervals until the project is complete. The internet revolution is changing all of that. The workgroups are no longer governed by the geographical positioning of its members. I found this particularly interesting because the idea of having a supervisor in Manila, a Research and Development team in Cebu, and a sales group in the United States is becoming more of a feasible possibility than ever before.

I found this breakdown of social norms within a company to increase production intriguing. The thought of perceiving my group as highly competent in their own methods of production would drive me to do my best. If this is coupled with the idea that I could communicate with them at any time of the day from anywhere in the world, I would feel that I had little excuse to not produce something of great quality. After all, if my work could follow me around, I couldn’t say, “I was stuck in traffic, so I couldn’t get that report in,” or “I didn’t have the time to do it.” My time to work is actually increased by not having to commute to work for two hours everyday. Furthermore, if I was not a morning person, I could work all night and sleep all morning. My workplace now conforms to me and not myself to it!

One such benefit is the application of online groups using the group mentality of the Filipinos. As a culture, the Filipinos are very group-oriented. This follows into the workplace. The groups formed in person could easily be translated to the internet workgroups with people around the world. As adept group workers, although the medium may be new, the concept behind it has been ingrained in Filipinos since they were born. In this way, we have the upper hand in the translation of one attribute to a new medium compared to other isolated cultures.

The book speaks of how the internet groups, in the absence of social cues and orders, had to find a group identity online. In other words, the lack of social cues also has its drawbacks. Even if the members of the workgroups concede personal information about themselves, such as their race or ethnicity, the other members might have no physical basis for the connection. So if I wanted to bond with a co-worker who was a Filipino in California, I would more likely do it in person than online. This is due to the lack of human contact and the perception that I am merely interacting with my computer and not a real person.

The internet can also help employees overcome inhibitions that they may not be able to in person. This is due, in part, to the amount of social cues that are lost over a computer. In a chat room, for example, the two employees might know nothing about each other, other than the information they provide about themselves. Therefore, any type of social stereotypes (i.e. sexism, racism, bigotry) is less prevalent than if perceived in the real world. If the employees have never met, social irritations may not be as readily triggered than if in person. For example, if I am irritated by a person

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2192
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)