But How Do You Feel?

With the colossal amount of information available online, the web has chained us to our computers, mobiles, and tech gadgets. In recent years we have been able to distribute information faster and more succinctly than ever before. We live in a time of rapid communication thanks to the increased adoption of Twitter and succinct press release messaging services. We have conquered the "What are you doing" part of the web. Most importantly, however, there is little research on how the web makes us feel.

With emotion a driving force behind decisions versus rational decision-making, the web's effect on us is not merely a qualitative dive into our feelings. How the web makes us feel is a reflection of how we receive and disseminate a highly valued currency: information.

Technology is invasive in our lives. It's vital for our work and to maintain relationships. With so many metrics available for measuring activity on the web, reporting on data is not painting the whole picture. A bridge is missing between what we do online and how that makes us feel and act. Understanding online activity is only a small part of the big picture of how technology is ingrained in our lives.

The British research company MediaSnackers thought that a deeper dive was necessary. The company recently conducted an experiment asking 500 teens aged 13-19 to describe in one word how the web makes them feel. The results were categorized by word and by demographic information at The Web Makes Me Feel. While this project is a far cry from scientific research and any conclusive findings, the results can be viewed as an initial insight into how the web makes teens feel.

It's not too surprising that the most popular adjective used was "connected." While there were many positive words used to describe feelings about the web, there was also the exact opposite: scared, insignificant, etc. This point goes back to our increasing continuous partial attention: we don't want to miss anything and we want to feel always connected.

If you could describe how the Internet makes you feel in one word, what would it be? Why do you feel that way?

-Carla

Check out the The Web Makes Me Feel- especially the "Future" page. They're looking for partners to expand their research efforts.

Photo Credit: visualpanic

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