Its all fun and games until chronic internet rage kicks in.
DO YOU HAVE COMPUTER OR INTERNET RAGE?
Peter Andrew Sacco, Ph.D.
February 12, 2007
Do you like to beat on mice? I’m not referring to the cuddly, little fury rodents like Stuart Little. Well, if you do beat on them, shame on you. Remember, karma is a bitch. Ever seen the movie Willard? After seeing that, I was afraid to go into my garage, also known as 101 Junk Drive for weeks. Who would have thought it, little rodents having the same effect as the movie Jaws?
The type of mouse I am referring to is the kind which usually goes hand in hand with your computer. What would ever possess someone to layout out a mouse with their fist? Perhaps the same reasons I’ve heard about which led people to put fists through monitors, toss monitors and drives out windows or against the wall, or having prolonged hissy fits with their computers…Internet Rage!
When I was collecting data and interviews for my popular selling new book “What’s Your Anger Type?”, I was amazed at the number of people who claimed to have anger issues which revolved around their PC’s or Macs. When I further dug into the issues and roots of their problems I was shocked to learn that a new phenomenon was actually occurring…Internet/Computer Rage! I decided to run with this type of anger and found a whole subclass of anger existed.
How would you know if you possess Internet or computer rage? I have included the criteria I used from the interviews I conducted as well as from many of the clients I had seen professionally, as well as students. I managed to come up with the following symptoms. You know you are a Computer/Internet Rager when:
you're waiting for the URL site to change and you're growing impatient
your screen freezes and you start pounding the mouse or keys
pop ups keep appearing on your screen and you start swearing
your e-mail is overloaded with junk mail and you start cursing
blind ads are sent to you and you actually reply with nasty e-mails
you participate in Internet chat to precipitate arguments
you have to constantly be surfing the Net to get your fix or else you go into withdrawal and get very irritable
you start stalking others in chat rooms or through their e-mail
you've actually punched your monitor when things were moving too slow or froze up
you've actually picked up the monitor and thrown it at the wall or out the window
Do you possess any of these signs and symptoms? Thank heaven for plasma screens! You don’t have to dig out the splinters of glass from your knuckles.
I thought the whole notion of Internet Rage was a joke until I heard about the crazy things people do when they are on their computers. I actually had people report they did the “Frisbee” with their laptops in coffee shops and libraries. Can you say duck? Well, that’s what some were doing when monitors dive out of high rise buildings. Damn those spams!
If you would like to no more about Internet/Computer Rage and whether or not you have it, please visit my website at
www.petersacco.com and take the What’s Your Anger Type? quiz. Yes, it’s done on a computer and I hope you have a high speed connection so you don’t develop further computer rage as a by-product of taking my test! Good luck!
Screw moderation. "Nuke it from orbit! It's the only way to be sure!"
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