Broadband Backlash In Korea

Overhype

from the maybe-not-so-good dept

For over a year now, Korea is always trotted out as example number one of what a society could be, if it had widespread broadband adoption. People talk about how Korea has over 50% of households with broadband access, and about how so many of them play online broadband games such as Lineage. There’s also been some talk about the phenomenon of “PC Bangs”, which are basically very popular cybercafes. However, some (as with any popular item, these days) are starting to suggest that not everything is wonderful with so much broadband. Back in January, we had a story claiming that 1/3 of all Koreans were “addicted” to the internet. At the time, this seemed like a bit of overhype from the same sorts of people who put out all those “scary” internet addiction stories in the US. Now, the NY Times is taking that story one step further by presenting what seems like anecdotal evidence to suggest that Korean youngsters are becoming “virtual zombies”, spending all their time at these cybercafes. Even though they come with people and participate in “group” gaming – mostly they just sit by themselves staring at their own screen. There are even stories of couples who are dating who go to the cybercafes, playing games side-by-side, but never talking. Again, I still think this is a bit of hype from folks who always get worried about “something new” changing the way people interact with each other.