In another unrelated study, researchers found that paying over $20 for a sh*tty album with a couple good tracks leads to feelings of being ripped off. Journal to be published soon.


--Previous Message--
: Nearly every day we write about negative associations towards
: file-sharing, and today is no different. A new academic paper
: now reveals how file-sharing is linked to depressive symptoms.
: The paper carries the self-explanatory title " Associating
: Depressive Symptoms in College Students with Internet Usage
: Using Real Internet Data " and will be published in an
: upcoming issue of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine.
:
: In brief, the researchers monitored how 216 undergraduates at
: Missouri S&T used the campus network. They then linked these
: findings to the results of a self-rated depression scale. What
: they found was that the use of peer-to-peer octets, packets and
: duration is positively correlated with depressive symptoms. In
: other words, people who are "depressed" are more avid
: file-sharers than those who don't show depressive symptoms.
:
: According to lead researcher Dr. Sriram Chellappan, the findings
: are unique among their kind. " The study is believed to be
: the first that uses actual Internet data, collected
: unobtrusively and anonymously, to associate Internet usage with
: signs of depression ," he told Psys. " Previous
: research on Internet usage has relied on surveys, which are 'a
: far less accurate way' of assessing how people use the Internet
: ."
:
: It is unclear what the direction of the relation between
: depressive symptoms and file-sharing is. The MPAA and RIAA may
: use the results to claim that file-sharing is bad for your
: mental health, but this can't be concluded from the current
: findings. Aside from heavy P2P use, people with depressive
: symptoms also use online chat more, and spend more time sending
: email. HTTP traffic and streaming were not correlated to
: depressive symptoms.
:
: As a category file-sharers are in good company as previous
: studies have linked depressive symptoms to online shopping,
: excessive online video viewing, social networking, online
: gambling, and excessive late-night Internet use.
:
: Where things do get scary is when Dr. Sriram Chellappan suggests
: that it might be a good idea to develop applications that scan
: people's Internet use for these risky behaviors. " The
: software would be a cost-effective and an in-home tool that
: could proactively prompt users to seek medical help if their
: Internet usage patterns indicate possible depression. The
: software could also be installed on campus networks to notify
: counselors of students whose Internet usage patterns are
: indicative of depressive behavior ," he explains.
:
: This goes a bit too far, and is also uncalled for as there is
: absolutely no evidence that even a decent percentage of all avid
: P2P users show depressive symptoms. That a researcher even
: suggests this is baffling. Not everything has to be monitored
: and checked. Most people just want their monthly invoice from
: their ISP, not a complete mental health report. Or perhaps I'm
: just being far too negative...
:
: