blog 9: Y U OUTBID ME

So here's is a picture that inspired my entry. It's from ihashascheezburger.com
I think this illustrates how bidding on online auction sites can turn into a problematic internet usage.
Need an unlocked phone? Want to find a pair of Jessica Simpson stilettos sold out online? Must get a Star wars Christmas ornament from 1986 for your significant other? Ebay probably has it! Since Ebay opened in1995, it drew billions of users to list, bid and buy items globally at the convenience of home. Wallace cites the number of items as 2 million. I saw 2 million items listed under "collectibles" category alone.

Sellers list items at a nominal fee, add descriptions, pictures and additional informations such as policy regarding shipping and handling. Prospective buyers search the website using a powerful search engine that generates a list of items that fit into specified criteria. When you like something, you make an offer. If someone else wants it, the bidding starts! There can be anywhere from zero to hundreds of offers and the highest price wins the item.

It attracts a great number of users, because availability is not limited on locations or time. As mentioned earlier, items listed can accommodate almost any needs.If the item desired is illegal or rare in your area, ebay is a very attractive source with a great degree of protection of privacy. Most purchases are made through PayPal, preventing credit card information from leaking to sellers. Also Ebay grew into a community; sellers and users establish reliability by receiving feedbacks.

Online auction sites can promote problematic internet use (PIU), because of addictive quality.Why bid online rather than shop from mega online stores, such as amazon.com or smaller mom-and-pop stores? Often items have low starting bid to attract users and bidding activities are concentrated on the last minutes, if not seconds. The addicted laments that excitement of bidding and rush of adrenaline by winning the item can outweigh the actual value of item purchased. The unpredictability lures in prospective buyers. The feature that allows bidding by text-messaging expanded the addictive quality. You can continue bidding anywhere!

Caplan describes a vicious cycle that promotes PIU. Psychosocial problems promote low social competence. Internet interactions become attractive, because it appears less threatening and efficacious. As a result, excessive, compulsive use of internet is rewarded, further promoting the cycle. Although online bidding may not directly influence social competence, there may be a correlation between users who do get addicted to ebay and global psychosocial health. Ebay allows relative anonymous activity. It's possible that some addicted users feel uncomfortable interacting with others offline. Online bidding can resemble gambling. Preoccupation with bidding can disrupt daily functions.