Hindsight imbalance online and offline life: qualitative feedback from online self disclosure in Thailand

Abstract

Internet technologies, especially social networking and instant messaging, reform people’s life style. Both online and offline activity attract users due to interest and necessity which may impact on the work life balance for many people. This research paper reports a qualitative result of a larger study which aimed to explore the knowledge, attitudes, opinions, behaviors and perceptions of Thai people in regards to their use of the internet, social networking services and computer games. The research survey was conducted through the social networking using a self-administered questionnaire in Thai. Totally, there were 838 participants in this online survey. All details of demographic background are reported below in the article. There were approximately 253 respondents who expressed their opinion, knowledge, behaviors and perceptions. This research paper analyzes the key responses into various categories and selects some examples for presentation. The research found that people disclosed their ideas in detail which reflected the risks involved spending too much time on the Internet. The imbalance of life style, computer vision syndrome and Internet addiction were commented upon frequently in the feedback from participants as the major concerns for the majority of the informants.