Is there more than one internet addiction?

The internet is involved in our lives daily. It is hard to escape from the overload of the internet. As users of the internet we become addicted to certain aspects of it. There are a few addictions to the internet such as:
Cybersex Addiction – compulsive use of Internet pornography, adult chat rooms, or adult fantasy role-play sites impacting negatively on real-life intimate relationships.

Cyber-Relationship Addiction – addiction to social networking, chat rooms, and messaging to the point where virtual, online friends become more important than real-life relationships with family and friends.

Net Compulsions – such as compulsive online gaming, gambling, stock trading, or compulsive use of online auction sites such as eBay, often resulting in financial and job-related problems.

Information Overload – compulsive web surfing or database searching, leading to lower work productivity and less social interaction with family and friends.

Computer Addiction – obsessive playing of off-line computer games, such as Solitaire or Minesweeper, or obsessive computer programming.

The most common addiction is cybersex, online gambling, and cyber-relationship addiction.
People create these addictions through unresolved feelings or an overwhelm of emotions. They use the internet to avoid these fillings and fill them with a sense of emotion that is satisfying.
There are several ways a person can break the addiction by going to therapy, group support or even set ground rules to limit your internet browsing. 

Angeli O'Day
10/25/12
helpguide.org

In love with Instagram?

Many cell phone, IPad and even IPod Touch users are obsessed with Instagram. Instagram is an app which allows users to transform pictures using filters and other designs and also share them with other Instagram users. Though it may seem harmless Instagram is also becoming an addiction. Instagram took picture taking to a whole new level.  Not only do users have to be the one with the best picture and it is also important to users who are following them to see their photos.
Here are 25 ways you can tell you may be an addict:

1. A ten minute walk takes you 40, because you can’t not take a picture of that cloud/bird/ park/hobo’s shoe/traffic light/muddy Tesco bag…
2. Where some can’t eat before saying grace, you can’t eat before taking a picture.
3. You can’t wash up your empty plate unless you’ve taken a picture of that too.
4. You fit the scene to the filter you want to use.
5. You culled any friends that don’t use Instagram – how are you going to keep up with them if you can’t follow them?
6. You considered having a child to gain more followers with cute baby pics.
7. You take at least four photos of your feet per week day.
8. You avoid telling people you’re unemployed by listing your occupation as “photoblogger”.
9. You are saving up your dole money to buy Instaglasses.
10. When others take arm length photos it just looks lame. When you take them, its art.
11. You believe that Facebook buying Instagram was the first sign of the apocalypse.
12. You frown upon people who possess real cameras. I mean, why didn’t they just get an iPhone?
13. You have stopped an old woman in the street to take a photo of her as she just looks so… deep, man.
14. You clean your bathroom more than any other room just to make sure those mirror photos are flawless.
15. You bought a dog just to have a willing subject to pose for you.
16. You don’t even like coffee, you just like the way it looks in sepia.
17. You have 14 pairs of novelty sunglasses, solely for photos.
18. Your last relationship ended when you found out they just didn’t “get” your pictures.
19. You can’t believe that no one’s talent spotted you yet.
20. You consider uploading 40 photos a day to be unproductive.
21. You know if you printed your photos on canvas, you could easily sell them for £3,000 each. But who wants to be a sellout?
22. You organize InstaMeets on a weekly basis.
23. You follow more than 700 Instagrammers, but only to prove that your photos are better than theirs.
24. You spend a good 30 minutes rearranging your food/desk/friends/family to get the perfect set up.
25. You have got into a fight over taking a photo of someone without asking.

Natalie Bobian

10/22/2012

Exploiting Internet Addiction?

Companies are profit driven. Today, all companies want that "next big thing" to generate money. So how do they go about that? In this Internet Age, an increasing number of companies live by the idea, "create an obsession, then exploit it." Gaming companies openly talk about the "compulsion loop." This idea is as followed: Gamer plays the game, gamer achieves goal, gamer is rewarded new content, then gamer wants to get more content so they enter the loop again.

When you're rewarded or accomplish a goal, you excite your neurons and they release dopamine. This makes the experience pleasurable and some people become obsessed. This also describes why some people get very angry when they lose or don't accomplish a goal. 

The release of dopamine causes the basis for addiction. In the past, people create barriers to detour unhealthy obsessions. It's hard to put a physical barrier in between the user and the internet which makes this addiction a little harder to combat. You have to recognize our virtual environment has real consequences and work towards recovering from the obsession.

Mariyah Hargrove

Sat. 10/20/12

pINTERESTING

According to Wikopedia, Pinterest is "a pinboard-style social photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, 're-pin' images to their own collections or 'like' photos. Pinterest's mission is to "connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting" via a global platform of inspiration and idea sharing." 

Nine months after it's launch in 2010, Pinterest had 10,000 users, and less than a year later the site was named  one of the top 10 largest social networking services according to Hitewise data. Pinterest was named one of the "50 best websites of 2011" by Time Magazine just over a year after it's launch. From September 2011 to February 2012 the monthly unique visitors to the Pinterest site grew over 866% from 1.68 million to 16.23 million.

Why is Pinterest so interesting?

The simple, non distracting design layout of the site allows for easy scrolling through lots of content with minimal effort. The site is based mostly on images, with a sleek, icon-free appearance with minimal comments. Pinterest allows us to embrace our inner-hoarder while keeping ideas neat and organized. Keep hundreds of recipes, plan a wedding, collect art, and virtually decorate your house all in a neat, categorized manner. Pinterest also gives us a refuge from the facebook/twitter world of relationship statuses, gossip, and complaining. The "pin-it" browser plug in provides a button on your toolbar so that you can pin images to your account from any website you are on. This enhances accessibility by allowing you to post content to the site without actually accessing the Pinterest site. With step-by-step instructions for DIY projects, links to recipes, and much more, Pinterest brings out your creativity and makes you feel like you can DIY just about anything. Most importantly, in my opinion, Pinterest removes the need to search several sites for related products or ideas, and places all of these similar interests in one organized, easy to use site. 

Because of it's ease of use and uncomplicated design, Pinterest can definitely be addicting. Whether you have five minutes or two hours, you are sure to find something worth pinning. I must warn you though, once you start, it's almost impossible to stop. Happy pinning!

Ashley Rulick 10/16/2012

images courtesy of pinterest.com, digitaltrends.com/ sources: wikopedia, pinterest

Social Media Taking Over?

Social media is being used everyday for personal use, advertising and promoting. People are always connected by personal devices such as iPads, smartphones and laptops to networking websites. Mass Relevance constructed the statistics and presented us with these facts:

• 50% of Facebook’s 750 million active users log on in any given day
• 30+ billion pieces of content shared each month within Facebook
• 500+ tweets per minute contain a @YouTube link
• 100 million active Twitter users and 55% access the platform via their mobile

This shows me that people are addicted to social networking sites due to the accessibility and a larger number people are using it creating all there popularity. Due to an increase more websites are expanding their services and creating a social networking segment, companies such as Bing and Google. 

Angeli O'Day

10/14/12

Obesity linked to Internet Obsessions

"The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008," states the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity and overweight youth is a result of inactivity due to TV and internet obsessions. Instead of playing outside or eating healthier, children are glued to their computers and other electronic devices and snacking. Marketers not use social media websites and other internet pages to advertise these unhealthy foods.
A study done by The Chinese University of Hong Kong found that "heavy" internet users were most likely to develop health issues, such as obesity, depression and sleeping issues. These "heavy" addicts, were also less likely to engage in hygiene routines. The extensive use of drugs and alcohol also increase in those who are "heavy" internet addicts. 
It is easy to fall into the trap of being a heavy internet addict because, not only it the internet available everywhere, but it necessary to use. Using the the web can become a problem, when sleeping habits are changing, eating habits are become worse, and focus on the outside world has become blurred. 



10/10
Natalie Bobian

Social Media and Teen Substance Abuse

Recent studies have linked social media to increased risk of teen drug abuse. According to reuters.com, teen social networkers are "five times more likely to use tobacco, three times more likely to use alcohol, and twice as likely to use marijuana" than non social networking teens. Laid back Internet attitudes and advertising glorifying teen misbehavior are said to be the root of the problem. Often teens post comments, blogs, pictures, and videos of themselves or other teens drunk, passed out, or using drugs on social networking sites. This increases teens ability to get access to drugs and alcohol, as well as their desire to try substances in the future. Nearly 40% of parents admit to not monitoring their teens social networking. Some have gone as far as calling this "electronic child abuse". (reuters.com)

image courtesy thefix.com

Social networking has also been said to negatively effect the recovery of teen substance abusers. These same online drug-related cues that can be held responsible for teens trying drugs and alcohol can also be held accountable for relapse of recovering teen substance abusers. In a study by David Tran of UCLA, 66% of recovering teen substance abusers said that social networking sites made them want to use again, while only 22% said that they used social media to positively promote recovery. Tran believes that this is a huge missed opportunity for teens to have a positive impact on other adolescents through social media interaction. A Facebook group for positive social support for teens is in the works.  Tran hopes to increase the teens' feelings of efficacy and decrease the number of contacts promoting drug and alcohol abuse. (psychiatrictimes.com)

Ashley Rulick 10/4/12

Internet Addiction, New Mental Health disorder?

   Is internet addiction such a huge problem that it may be considered a mental health disorder? Well, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM-V), internet addiction (formerly Internet Use Disorder [IUD]) may soon be added to the list. Authors are saying it needs more studies conducted to be classified as a real mental disorder.

   Do you have any of the symptoms?

• Do you experience "preoccupation" with the internet or internet gaming?
• Do you experience withdrawal symptoms when the substance (internet) is no longer available?
• Is your body building tolerance (need to spend more and more tine on the internet to achieve the same "high")?
• Do you experience a loss of other interests?
• Have you had unsuccessful attempts to quit?
• Do you use the internet to improve or escape a anxious or depressing mood?

   Research has shown that those addicted to internet use have changes in their brain in the connections between cells and in the areas that control attention, executive control and emotion processing. Many of these changes are like the changes you see when someone is addicted to cocaine, heroine and other substances. There are extremes to the disorder, from killing because the desired object was taken away to constantly checking emails for work and being a good employee. 

   This may be hard to treat because you can't quit the internet altogether, yet, you have to learn to manage your time using the world wide web. Researchers have found the only treatment, as of now, is cognitive behavior therapy. This psychotherapy teaches people how to replace the unhealthy thoughts and behavior patterns with new, healthier, more productive ones. 

Questions: Does your internet usage affect your lifestyle negatively? How do you feel about Internet Addiction becoming a mental health disorder?

Mariyah Hargrove, 10/3