Front Cover -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Table of Contents -- Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Contributors and Chapter Summaries -- Intrapersonal Considerations -- Interpersonal Perspectives -- Transpersonal Aspects -- Chapter 1: The Internet in Context -- Introduction -- Our Collective Love Affair with the New -- Inventing the Self -- Humans and Machines-An Ambivalent Relationship -- The Ambivalence Deepens -- And Now... The Internet -- Take a Lesson from Radio -- Studying the Net -- Summary -- References -- Part I Intrapersonal -- Chapter 2: Children and the Internet -- Introduction -- What are Children Doing on the Internet? -- Concerns -- Social Development -- Unwanted Exposure to Pornography and Hate -- Predation and Bullying -- Becoming "Internet-Wise" -- References -- Chapter 3: Self Online: Personality and Demographic Implications -- Introduction -- New Ways of Thinking About Identity -- One Self or Many: Adolescent Explorations -- Self Expansion or Disinhibition Online -- Personality Online -- Introverts and Extroverts Online -- Other Personality Types Online -- The Self as a Demographic Online -- Gender and Internet Use -- Gender and Game Play -- The Influence of Age, Ethnicity, Culture, and Poverty -- Elderly -- Socioeconomic Status and Culture -- Ethnicity -- Social Roles and Inequality Online -- References -- Chapter 4: Disinhibition and the Internet -- Evidence for Disinhibition -- Self-Disclosure and the Internet -- Flaming and Anti-Social Behavior -- Empirical Evidence for 'Flaming' -- Disinhibition and the World Wide Web (WWW) -- Internet Pornography -- Formats of Pornography on the Internet -- Explanations of Disinhibition on the Internet -- Deindividuation -- Reduced Social Cues -- Two-Component Self-Awareness Model -- Social Identity Explanation of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE).

Multi-Factor Explanations and Disinhibition -- A Privacy-Based Approach to Understanding Disinhibition -- Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 5: The Psychology of Sex: A Mirror from the Internet -- General Trends -- Sexuality on the Internet: Roots and Controversies -- The Influence of Sexuality on New Communications Media -- The Meanings of Sexuality for Human Beings: A Chaotic Systems Approach -- Religious and Cultural Influences -- New Insights from the Science of Sexology -- Sexual Expression and Information on the Internet -- Usenet Newsgroups and the Psychology of Sex -- The Sexual Diversity of the World Wide Web -- Political, Personal, and Community Aspects of Sex on the Internet -- Meeting Potential Partners at Online Dating Sites -- Blogging: Sexual Empowerment via Online Conversations -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 6: Internet Addiction: Does It Really Exist? (Revisited) -- Comparison Survey Studies of Internet Addiction and Excessive Internet Use -- Survey Studies of Internet Addiction in Vulnerable Groups (i.e., Students) -- Psychometric Studies of Internet Addiction -- Internet Addiction, Comorbidity, and Relationship to Other Behaviors -- Internet Addiction Case Studies -- Why Does Excessive Internet Use Occur? -- Concluding Remarks -- References -- Part II Interpersonal -- Chapter 7: Revisiting Computer-Mediated Communication for Work, Community, and Learning -- Introduction -- Revisiting CMC and Internet Debates -- Unbundling Users and Their Online Activities -- Users of CMC and the Internet -- Online Content and Usefulness -- Groups, Networks, and Communities -- Social Networks -- Tie-Based View of Media Use -- Online and Offline Integration -- Toggling -- Domestication -- Limits to Growth -- Wrapping Up -- References -- Chapter 8: The Virtual Society: Its Driving Forces, Arrangements, Practices, and Implications.

Introduction -- Driving Forces -- Global Economies -- Policies and Politics -- Enlightened and Diversified Population -- Information Technology Infrastructure -- Existing Arrangements and Practices -- Telework -- Virtual Teams -- Concepts of Time and Place -- Virtual Team Technologies -- Virtual Organizations -- Virtual Communities -- Teledemocracy -- Virtual Museums -- Weblogs -- Dilemmas and Implications of the Virtual Society -- Global Policy and Economics -- Politics and Policy -- Enlightened and Diversified Population -- Information Technology and IT Infrastructure -- Summary and Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 9: Internet Self-Help and Support Groups: The Pros and Cons of Text-Based Mutual Aid -- Introduction -- The Psychology of Text-Based Relationships -- Self-Help as Mutual-Aid -- Text-Based Mutual-Aid -- Results of a Replication Survey -- Pros and Cons of Internet Self-Help Groups -- Advantages That Online Self-Help Groups Share with F2F Groups -- Advantages Unique to Online Self-Help Groups -- Disadvantages That Online Self-Help Groups Share with F2F Groups -- Disadvantages Unique to the Online Self-Help Groups -- Internet Support Groups and Text-Based Group Therapy -- Ethical Considerations in Researching Text-Based Mutual Aid -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 10: Cyber Shrinks: Expanding the Paradigm -- Introduction -- Professional Issues Online -- Expanding the Paradigm (WIIFM? PX!) -- Overview of Research -- From Research to Professional Practice -- The Online-Offline Connection -- Cybersex and the Potential for Harm -- Risk Management in Cyberspace -- Legal and Ethical Concerns -- Professional Liability -- Competency and Scope of Practice -- Emerging Clinical Issues -- Theory in Cyberspace -- Efficacy of Online Treatment -- Expanding the Clinical Paradigm [:-C, :-W, (:: () ::)] -- References -- Part III Transpersonal.

Chapter 11: From Mediated Environments to the Development of Consciousness II -- Introduction -- Presence -- Veridicality -- Continuity -- Ecological Perception -- Gibson's Theory -- Ecological Self -- Natural versus Mediated Environment -- Media as Ecological Environment -- Pictures -- Media and Movement -- Orientation and Space -- Orientation -- POV and Perceptual Flow -- Space and Consciousness -- References -- Chapter 12: World Wide Brain: Self-Organizing Internet Intelligence as the Actualization of the Collective Unconscious -- Introduction -- The Future History of the Net -- Mind as a Complex System -- The Collective Unconscious Concretized -- AI and the Internet -- Symbiotic Internet Intelligence in Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives -- The Global Brain Study Group -- The Global Brain and Human Progress -- Web Spirituality -- Self and Morality in the World Wide Brain -- References -- Chapter 13: The Internet and Higher States of Consciousness-A Transpersonal Perspective -- Introduction -- Other Approaches to Consciousness -- Human Consciousness and Its Development -- Integrative Program of Research into Developing Higher States of Consciousness -- Physiological and Psychological Markers of HSC -- Technology and Cognition -- The Internet as a Cultural Amplifier-VR and Lucid Dreaming -- Previous Research into Video Game Play, Consciousness, and Dreams -- The Coevolution of Technology and Consciousness -- References -- Index.