The  characteristics  of  the  new  phenomenon

As the term enters China, the definition changes as more and more people refer to themselves as Otaku. As a matter of fact, what they mean is not that they are hardcore anime fans but they are referring to the literal meaning of the word Otaku – home. They consider themselves as Otaku if they spend most of the spare time at home, chatting with friends, watching movies, surfing online, playing games etc.

Home has become the place where they spend most of their time after school or work while Internet has become the main bridge, which enables them to stay in touch with the world outside in their room. The members of such group are mostly between age 15 to 30 with access of Internet at home. Eng (2006) mentioned in his thesis that “most of Otaku are from middle class family with computer access, either teenagers depending on parents or adults who don’t have families to support.” (Eng, 2006, p. 25) They usually have good knowledge about computer and Internet.

1.1.2.1  Obsession  

Internet can provide people with another way of socializing, despite the way they behave in physical life. Even though Otaku existed before the explosion of Internet, Internet is now the main tool for them to communicate with each other. There is no

doubt that the development and growing number of the Internet users have brought the most profound changes to Otaku world. It allows an unprecedented number of people with shared interests to interact with each other. Lawrence Eng (2006) mentioned in his thesis that “Otaku of all stripes gravitated towards the internet even when it was very young, and they used it very heavily.” (Eng, 2006, p. 114) One of his interviewees admitted that she spent an average of 17 hours a day on the Internet, sleeping 4-8 hours a day. With the excessive demand of the Internet, many teenagers are starting to resemble as Otaku social behavior but not exactly the same as what was referred as Otaku before, which is why we refer to as post-Otaku phenomenon in this thesis. The quest for the unknown and curiosity is part of human nature; somehow the invention of Internet is like pouring fuel to the curiosity fire. The difference is that the role of Internet might slightly change since it used to be the tool and now it could also be the source of the obsession.

There are so many things that can be done on or with Internet. Recently a friend posted a picture on Facebook, which I thought is perfect to help me explain how far can “many things” go.

Figure 1:Internet Engagement of Today

Before Internet era, when music is needed, one would turn on the radio or go the music store to look for a CD. There were the days that children needed to save for quite a long time in order to have enough money to buy a CD of the band they like.

Today there is streaming online with huge selections of different kinds of music.

Many bands even start to distribute their music in digital format for fans to purchase through Internet. Fighting for remote control with parents might become the unique collective memory for the generation growing up with television. Since the Internet entered the family, the children immediately abandoned the battlefield, throwing themselves into the ocean of Bit.

There used to be many ways to spend the time after work or study. There were hobbies such as reading comic books or watching cartoons. One could also get a bit obsessed with the radio or television. But today what one needs is a computer plugged in with a cable for Internet to accomplish everything. With Internet one can find  unlimited amount of music or movies, or any other cultural contents for that mater. News and gossips are readily available online. Friends are reachable just an Internet distant away. Internet offers everything that people are likely to be addicted to by the means of one computer.

1.1.2.2  Isolation  

Humans as a species are not meant to live in the nature as an individual; they seek the company of other human beings so they could develop as a community. Yet, with the development of science, technology and economy, human beings do not need to live as a group any more. They can start to pursue a space of their own. This quest for the personal space changes the lives and systems of functioning of human beings. Today the rapid-development of Internet technology provides the means of such a phenomenon to spread. Since basically everything you are addicted to can be found at home, there are not that many reasons to leave your comfort zone. The modern technology is giving you less and less reason to leave home. Also the

modern society speaks so much of the individualism and personality, encouraging younger generations to develop their own opinion and thought. At the same time the society gives them the possibility to have their own space to develop their personal state of mind. As for teenagers, their sense of belonging is gained by socializing with the peer groups; therefore the communication within the peer group becomes the crucial social interaction throughout their whole teenager period. Back at that time, parents used to be worried about their children tangling with wrong crowd while meeting up with friends out on the street. So they thought that the better solution was to keep them at home, avoiding the trouble their children might get themselves into. However, today the new technology has changed the way teenagers communicate with others and even if they stay at home they are also likely to get involved with other people. Internet has in fact provided them a virtual society in which they can do almost anything they do in real society.

Birgit Kaare (2007), a Norwegian researcher, conducted 88 interviews with 130 Norwegian teenagers about how they use different communication technologies.

Based on the survey, they studied and analyzed how the mediated communication influenced the teenagers' social relation between friends and families. Their research shows that children are being offered with new ways to communicate with others. It is easier for them to keep in touch after school than previously. They definitely have tighter social relation with friends and schoolmates now. Nevertheless, whether the occurrence of new communication technologies is destroying the old family-oriented relation is not clear. The results show how the young generation is depending on the new types of mediating communication such as SMS and Msn.

The spread of Internet gives the younger generation a new way to build up relationships with friends and other people. Such technologies make it possible for them to get in contact with friends anytime, anywhere. New technologies are considered to have positive effects on younger people’s social life. As it has been mentioned before, children growing up with Internet tend to depend more on Internet or on other communicating technologies. By isolating them from the real

society somehow simplified the supervision of their parents, yet such isolation is not equal to loneliness. Staying alone does not mean being lonely.