ARTICLE: INTERNET ADDICTION

ARE YOU AN INTERNET ADDICT?





Do you spend more than three hours a day surfing the net? Do you use the internet as your main way of being informed? Do you usually read e-books instead of real ones? Do you send e-mails to your friends to keep in touch with them? Are you hooked on Messenger and Facebook? Are you a computer geek?



Take time to think about it. If you cannot live without doing these things above, you could be an internet addict. An internet addict can be defined as someone who suffers from a compulsion to check their email more than twice a day and to visit just about twenty websites while they are chatting with ten friends at the same time. Not only do they have a craving for surfing the net each time they are near a computer, but they also take their laptop everywhere. What is more, internet addicts probably have a mobile phone with access to the internet. What could be interesting is to chat with strangers and with people all over the world. However, those who chat with their neighbours, friends or workmates instead of having a coffee with them and talking face-to-face could have a big communication problem. Other symptoms include insomnia, eye strain and headache due to spending long hours in front of the screen visiting websites you do not really need. How a terrible dependence on computers they have!



So, what can you do if you consider yourself an internet addict? I recommend not wasting your time on the internet, make sure you only use it when you really need it. Most importantly, learn how to use it in an appropriate way. Only when you use it properly will you be aware how useful it could be without hurting yourself and wasting your time. (E.A)