You know that feeling you get when you don't have access to the internet? Compulsively twitching your fingers in texting motions, obsessing on that e-mail you're expecting, thinking of all your Facebook notifications piling up. You're an addict, baby! And apparently you're not the only one. What's next Celebrity Rehab: The Internet Edition? Ashton Kutcher and Charlie Sheen, together at last!
A recent study done of 1,000 college students from around the world has shown that the internet can be as addictive as cigarettes, alcohol or illegal drugs. The students who participated volunteered to give up the internet and all other media access for one day and let me just say, things got ugly. One student is quoted saying that 'she was as itchy as a crackhead' while not being able to access her online world. Chill the frick out girl! Your poke wars will be waiting for you when you return!
Most students said that not having access to the internet made them feel lonely and depressed. Here's a quote "I felt so lonely, as if I was on a small cage on an island." If online friendships are the only ones that make you feel complete people, you'll probably actually end up lonely, like forever alone lonely.
This addiction naturally extends to mobile phones. 21% of those partaking in the study said they would go shoeless before the would go without their smartphone. 66% admitted to sleeping with their phones. One student said 'My phone is my only source of comfort.' Dude, what the heck are you doing in bed with your phone? I'm pretty sure that's not how you charge it!
Another not so surprising finding was that the students did not know what to do without access to the internet. Most complained that they were bored. "I sat in my bed and stared blankly. I had nothing to do." Raising children...these people's parents are doing it wrong!
The students do recognize that there are joys in life besides browsing the web and social networking, but most don't plan on changing things anytime soon. As one student creepily described his experience "The only thing going through my mind (in the voice of a psychopath) 'I want Facebook. I want Twitter. I want YouTube. I want TV'" Um, the authorities are gonna keep their eye on this guy, right?
What do you think are these people the extreme or do you think this is a growing epidemic? How would you do with no internet or phone access for a day? Let's discuss internet addiction in the comments!
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