Internet Addiction: Fact or Fiction

In our modern age of technology, internet usage is extremely common. Sometimes, the internet is used more for pleasure than for instrumental purposes. The usage of internet can be divided into categories of communication, work, entertainment, and electronic commerce. The internet is indeed a platform for checking mails, checking on the latest news, doing research or school work, reading e-magazines, chatting, cyber gaming, blogging, streaming videos and downloading music or videos.

In my opinion, the entertainment on the internet is indeed developed and can easily outgrow into internet addiction. Nowadays, students are required to do their homework, projects and many other school related activities online. Instant messaging would simply be a mode of immediate and fast communication between students. Email would be the platform of file sending and notifications. Internet is used for research and also accessing of school portals online. Apart from school work and researching, students would definitely find time to relax by playing online games, listening to music online and watching videos online. This ‘entertainment section’ of the internet can lead to internet addiction, especially when one is not in control.

Among students and even some adults, online games are becoming more and more popular everyday and a lot of precious time is spent on it. Today, vast majority of Web-based games are free to play. Examples of online games include Multiplayer Online Games (MOG), Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) and Browser games. These games are definitely filled with thrills and fun. There are various experience and levels within the games that can get any player motivated to play on and on. These games are addictive. Players may tend to stay online playing for hours and hours, affecting the quality of their lives. They tend to play compulsively. They may isolate themselves from people around them and focus all energy on game achievements rather than real life events. At times when things get overboard, some game addicts even hold back on going to the toilet, eating and sleeping, decrying such things as ‘a waste of time’, according to Ms Geraldine Tan, a psychologist.

Instant messaging is popular and can be addicting. It is an instantaneous mode of communication. Many people chat , make calls online or even video calls online just to say hello to their friends or family. Sometimes chatting can go on and on for hours that one does not realise that many hours have passed. It is a wonder how someone can sit down in one chair the whole day chatting to his contacts on messenger, and this can go on day after day. This can bring laziness, and of course lead to addiction.

Blogging can be addictive too and it is surely time consuming. Blogging is simply considered as a virtual diary that can be viewed by the world wide web. Many people blog about their daily happenings, about the people around them or even current affairs. There are some who are also bold enough to blog about politics. I would say that blogging can take a lot of time if someone is extremely serious about it. Anyone can get overboard and things can get out if control.

As we all know, people spend a lot of time surfing on the internet for work or study. Excessive web surfing can lead to compulsive surfing, which is another type of internet addiction. In today’s life style, surfing the net cannot be avoided. We surf the net to seek for information. If one goes on surfing without self- control, this surely can lead to compulsive surfing. One may spend a lot of time gathering irrelevant information. This may in turn lead to information overload. On the whole, one may spend more time searching for information, collecting data and organizing all the information collated. This would definitely hinder with ones productivity.

Time spent on the internet can easily become an ‘out-of-control habit.’ This ‘online control behavior’ can interfere with normal living and cause stress on family relationships. To my mind, internet has its pros and cons; it surely depends on how you look at it. For example, playing games online can be a good form of relaxation if the player in control of his time and does not get carried away; blogging can be fulfilling if the blogger is in full control. As long as one does not go overboard, the same thing goes for net surfing and instant messaging as well.

Nowadays, people really spend more time in front of the computer screens rather than hang out with friends or spend time with their families. According to Dr Yeo, a consultant psychiatrist, “Young people are full of energy and some see Singapore as too boring a place, so they escape into the virtual world, which is much more exciting." Therefore, there is a heavy social problem if one spends too much time glued to the computer screen. An addict can get really frustrated and irritated when removed from source of addiction. This can lead to rebellious attitude and lots of anger. According to Dr Yeo, "If it takes up more and more of your time and it becomes the preferred activity in your life to the exclusion of everything else, that's the surest warning signal that something is not quite right."

Since there are so many platforms to express oneself, entertain oneself, and simply chat with others on the internet, the internet is becoming one of the leading modes of entertainment. However, there are many alternatives to simply sitting in one spot the whole day pressing the buttons on the keyboard. One can simply relax by playing sports, watching TV, reading a book or the newspaper. The internet is an important tool in our lives and we surely must learn to use it wisely. As the saying goes, “you will go most safely in the middle” by Ovid, a Roman Poet. Therefore, if you ever find yourself withdrawing into any particular activity, or sudden loss of interest in other things, that is a signal of certain addiction. Well, this is indeed a FACT.

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