Are today’s psychologists equipped to deal with online?

The CNN is carrying a story about a thirtheen year old who posted the following status update – at home – on her Facebook page:

“I wish Osama Bin Laden would have killed my teacher instead of the 3,000 people in the twin towers”.

She posted the update at home and ended up with a suspension from school.  So the issue up for discussion on many US mummy forums is should she have ended up with a suspension given that she posted the update at home?

Online etiquette

At the moment the Internet is the a bit feral to say the least as really there is no regulation in place. I often think adults – forget about teenagers and kids – forget that what the say online is a permanent record of what they thought and felt at a certain point in time.  People can look back on this information and forget that the status update you posted (because you were feeling sad or happy or whatever) was from a point in time. They can use this information to judge you. Sometimes unfairly. And yes I think we are all guilty of doing this.

Imagine if every time you pushed “enter” or “publish” you allowed yourself to think? Do I want to share this information with everyone? Do I care if my child reads this in X years time? Do I care if a future employer reads this next year? Would  you still press that button? I bet half the time each of us would not. Some of course will say “Yeah, I don’t care what’s out there. I’m happy to share”. But  what of those who don’t actually think about this every time? Are they publishing things they would like to retract?

Fact is in both online and social media etiquette is still developing.  We are all responsible for developing it.  But we forget this.

Years ago I studied Psychology. Social networking did not not exist. The internet was not even in common usage. But lately I find myself thinking about Psychology – the study of human behaviour if you like – and thinking that this is going to be the next growth area especially as it relates to online and mobile environments. You can call it Digital Psychology. Then again perhaps it will be incorporated into the field of social psychology which is the study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of others whether it be real or implied. There is a plethora of issues out there needing addressing – online gambling, digital deception, online affairs, online bullying, the list grows.

Digital Psychologists needed?

This 13 year old says that she thought no one would read her status update. She felt anonymous. She felt safe. Instead for a variety of reasons she ended up on national TV.  Looking at this teenager crying on the interview visibly upset by the reaction received from the status update I could not help but feel that she probably needs to speak to someone especially since in the interview she said she had lost  friends from  school  as many of the parents of her friends  said she was a “bad influence”. But would a counselling or clinical psychologist be equipped to deal with this issue which is online and social network related.  Perhaps.  Then again maybe not…

Would love to hear your thoughts on this issue.