Abstract
Emerging and young adults have embraced cybertechnology and the Internet, garnering empowerment and community, but sometimes at the cost of autonomy, self-control, and time for reflection. Creativity and compulsivity coexist online, as do aggression and altruism. Social networking and gaming, as exemplified by the still powerful platforms Facebook and World of Warcraft, entice millions of emerging and young adults to learn about each other and establish a sense of community. Fantasy games, at first, welcome respite from daily routines and limited opportunities for adventure, can be used to postpone the achievement of goals and the negotiation of a developmental impasse. Emerging and young adults will determine their relationships with technology as either dutiful consumers and captives, or autonomous innovators who set meaningful, if permeable, boundaries between the virtual worlds they create and enjoy, and the worlds of face-to-face interpersonal space they continue to live in.
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Konstam, V. (2015). The Virtual Life Alongside: Technology and the Emerging and Young Adult. In: Emerging and Young Adulthood. Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11301-2_4
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