Psychology of online interactions

Factual Questions
1

Has anyone come across any commentary on or research into the psychology of online interactions?

Specifically I’m looking to understand motivations, factors, considerations etc around individual interactions on sites such as LinkedIn and eBay (examples which involve some commercial considerations are particularly useful). What I’m finding on Google deals more with the higher level psychology (e.g, ‘Why use online networking?’), so any information or leads at the interaction level would be great.

Cheers

2

I know of one long-term, large-scale survey/research project offhand: Nick Yee’s The Daedalus Project, which examines the social psychology of MMORPG players.

Unfortunately, while it is a fascinating glimpse into human interaction in complex virtual worlds, I’m not sure of its relevance to what you want: Online (but real-world) economic transactions.

3

I’m not sure what you’re getting at but… Go to google scholar and try “ebay psychology”.

4

Try asking on The Association of Internet Researchers mailing list.

5

One should also not forget Jonathan Gabriel’s Internet Dickwad theory.

(OK, half-joking… but there does seem to be an unfortunate amount of truth to it).