With the Internet becoming so wildly popular there are some problems that are gaining attention. Internet addictions are being talked about and studied more. There are many opportunities for addictions on the Internet. People use the Internet for finding information, entertainment and relationships. With over half the world’s population on the Internet, your chances will increase of coming across Internet users with some type of addiction. Researchers suggest that one in eight Americans have some type of Internet addiction and that some are so obsessed they try to hide it from their loved ones. Here is a brief look at some Internet addictions.
The biggest Internet addiction is the Internet itself. It is believed that thrity-one million American adults show signs of having an Internet addiction. The definition of an Internet addiction is a compulsive behavior related to the Internet that interferes with your normal life. This would include creating problems in your real life and hurting friends and family because you are using the Internet. The Internet is a vast system of rewards. The Internet does not sleep and is accessible twenty-four hours a day. With just a few clicks of the mouse you can virtually find anything you want. This is an instant reward giving you all kinds of information at your fingertips. It can become easier to forget your real life and go into your cyber life. Too much of this type of behavior and you have an addiction to the Internet itself. An Internet addiction could also be called an Internet dependency or Internet compulsivity.
Another common Internet addiction for both kids and adults would be on-line communities. These are where you join the community either according to your interests or just to find people with common interests. These communities become addictive because you can meet so many different types of people. You can also meet people with common interests but they can be from all over the world. You start replacing these friends with the real life friends. You can be anything you want to be when you are on-line and sometimes it is easier to be open because there is no face to face.
Chat rooms can become addictions also. These are places much like the on-line communities except that you can talk to these people in real time. The Internet never sleeps so there is always a chat room open somewhere at any time of the day or night. Once again, you can be anything you want and you can decide how much truth to tell in the chat rooms. You can get so busy making a cyber life that you forget about your real life and it suffers because of your cyber life.
Role playing games that you play on-line can also become an addiction. These games are ones where you play a certain character and you build up that character’s skill level to become better at the game. The more you play, the more things you acquire to help you win the game. These games can be played alone or with other people playing the same game. This can easily turn into an addiction because of the more you play scenarios.
For adults on the Internet, they can become addicted to adult websites, also known as pornography. This is a very common addiction and has had a lot of research done on it. This is the addiction that can harm a family the most and is why it is the most hidden Internet addiction. Women seek out these sites for relationships or to fill a void that is missing from their own lives. Men seek these sites for sex. Either way it is still considered cheating and can tear a family apart.
Just like regular shopping is an addiction, on-line shopping can also be considered an addiction. A person can shop just about anywhere twenty-four hours a day and have it delivered right to their door. You can buy things you want or things you never thought of. This is also an instant gratification so is easier to become an addiction.
There are so many Internet addictions that a person can develop and many more that are still thought of as safe. The Internet can give you information but it can also become very addictive with its twenty-four hours availability and anything you want at your fingertips. This is just a quick look at some Internet addictions.
