Slashdot Mirror
Are You Online More than 4 Hours a Day?
R3 sent us an interesting report that talks asbout Belgian psychologists claiming that using the Internet for more than 4 hours a day is addictive behavior, and should be treated like alcoholism or any other addiction. If they try to take my laptop away, I'll bite them: I'm
not addicted, I swear ;)"
I sometimes have to go out to sea to conduct research. In the earlier days, communication with the rest of world was extremely limited. In this type of environment one truly realizes who one truly wants to be in contact with. Everything else is a waste on bandwidth (and money).
At work I sometimes disappear into the library to read journal articles. I grab a bunch of papers and disappear into the depths of the stacks.
I use the internet a lot. But sometimes I just have to get away from everything and everybody. In this modern age of total communication and linkage, this can be one of life's last pleasures.
The 5 hours/day figure for adult females seems to reflect the stereotypical stay-at-home mom who watches soap operas all day. I suppose there are still quite a few of them around.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
I should know, I am online for considerably more than four hours a day (usually from 8-12). I also have a hard time leaving the net for days at a time. The hard time I have is that my boss starts charging my vacation time, or if I disappear too long, he'd stop paying me.
Any study that takes an arbitrary length of time, and says "if you go past that line, you need help" is a joke. It's an attempt by some little known psychiatrist to get his name associated with a currently faddish syndrome. It does nothing to help identify the problem, it does nothing to help people who have a real problem, it just gets his name in the paper.
There are real people who have serious net addictions, to the point where it destroys any part of their lives that isn't online. These people need help, not misguided studies.
----
----
Open mind, insert foot.
Hmmm, yep I guess I must be addicted then. I dial up first thing in the morning before I do anything else, then on and off at work, then back on when I get home... And yes, after a day or two without access i get withdrawal symptoms..but they go away if I can find something better to do...
Well that's my 2 cents worth...
David de Groot Snr Systems Engineer
I don't know about Slashdotters but I have a hard time leaving the net for days at a time. I have a lot of online friends on IRC and it really makes me lonely and bored to leave...
I don't know... just think its not something to really joke about. It may be pathetic but some people really rely on the net for their happiness...
Josh
... there are three types of net-addicts out there (and yes, I've posted something similar to this before): those addicted to convenience, those addicted to information, and those addicted to fantasy.
The first type is the impatient I-want-it-NOW sort of person. Probably s/he's also got a cell phone and/or a pager, and gets real unhappy if the SO isn't in constant contact, or if the circle of friends isn't heard from at least twice a day. Mostly does things that s/he would be doing anyhow, but does 'em all online because it is (or seems) faster than more conventional methods. If the net connection goes down, they turn to the phone. If the phone is down, they might well drive out to see the people they maintain constant contact with.
The second type (and I am admittedly one of them) probably has an obscure interest or several, and definitely has a lot of intellectual curiosity. If their net connection dies, they might get a little twitchy at first, but will probably search out a large bookstore or some other non-Net source of info. (And hey, I've been offline for 15 days because I was at Pennsic. No Internet hookup there! Didn't bother me much, but now I have to clean out Ye Olde Inbox.)
The third type tends to be sort of the stereotypical net-junkie who lacks RL social skills. I also saw this a lot with gay and bi friends who were not comfortable being out of the closet IRL, and pagan friends who weren't comfortable with being out of the broom closet IRL. The 'net is a security blanket, and an excuse to avoid a reality perceived as unpleasant. They are the ones who are really lost if the plug gets pulled.
To my way of thinking, the third type is the most self-destructive (though occasionally, the first type has other problems like being a controlling and even abusive mate).
The main problem with type 2 net addicts like myself is that occasionally productivity goes out the window if we're off chasing after 17th century poetry or whatever (or reading
:)
"Somebody exploded a letter-bomb today
Hmm.. in grade 6 I remember reading a story called "The Great Tomato Addiction." It went on and on with statistics about how 90% of the population was addicted to tomatoes. (95% of convicted criminals have eaten them, etc..) It also proved that tomatoes are really addictive too... when an addict is denied tomatoes, they invariably turn to other substitutes, such as potatoes, beef, etc. If an addict is denied tomatoes and all substitutes, they will die within a few weeks!
Now that's a REALLY serious addiction problem! If "internet addicts" are denied their addiction, at least they don't die from it!
This is one "study" I'm not going to take too seriously.
Hey, we may be addicted, but we're still running this country, so Nyaaaaah!
Now if you'll excuse me, somebody called from the Metro Area Sanitarium and said they were having problems with their OC3...
--
Remember, people in glass houses shouldn't get stoned!
The newspaper today had a summary of a recent study about TV usage in the United States. Weird coincidence.
Anyway, they said the average is around 7.5 hours/day per household. The most TV-addicted demographic are adult females, who average around 5 hours/day of TV-watching, then adult males, who average around 4 hours/day, then kids under 12, who average around 3 hours/day and finally teenagers, who average around 2.75 hours/day.
Overall, it seems that the adults who complain that kids these days watch too much TV need to look at their own habits first.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Yes, they only seem to be worried about addictions when it suits them. For example, love is one of the most addictive phenomenons in existance, yet psychologists, to my knowledge, have never warned against it or recommended mental help for those in love.
Scientific studies have shown that being in love chemically much resembles substance addiction, and symptoms are similar as well, including irrational behavior, withdrawal, etc.
To the metal ward with all internet users and lovestruck couples!
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Well, not in America anyways. In Belgium I think they would.
But then there is a lot of stuff you guys do daily that we would get locked up for here (double negatives...)
Of course, I take part in online discussions more than three hours per day and I sometimes spend 14-16 hours every day programming and since I program on my server which is some 7 feet away from my workstation, and I connect to it using the Internet, I must be a real addict, right?
I think these so called results and decisions they've made is inconclusive at best.