Artifact 10

I chose to do Internet Addiction for artifact 10. It is an article "Miss G: A Case of Internet Addiction" and the link is http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/miss-g-a-case-of-internet-addiction/?emc=eta1.

The article talks about how the Internet can be an addiction. Dr. Kimberly Young states that the Internet is addictive because of the fact that it allows use to make new personalities for ourselves, and use them in which ever way we may need. Dr. Young has now developed a test that anyone can take to see if they are addicted to the Internet or not. In a sense, I believe most of us are slightly addicted to the Internet because of how much we have to use it today.

Anything can be addictive. Whether it be video games, drugs, working out, it does not matter. If we like something, we are going to keep doing it. The Internet, however, is available almost anywhere you go. We can access the Internet from our phones, gaming systems, and obviously our computers. Having this much access to something almost makes it a must for people to use. We can use the Internet for so many different things now, I can see where it is addictive. As a matter of fact, it can be highly addictive to some people. People can check the weather, sports scores, restaurant menus, get directions, and many other things via the Internet. It is almost crazy to me to think of someone who does not use the Internet very much or maybe even not at all. In today's world you almost have to have access to it.

When I say I believe everyone is somewhat addicted to the Internet, I mean most of us get online to check a few things everyday. For me, I get online to check Facebook and ESPN, sometimes doing research for homework, and occasionally a few other things but that is about it. The girl talked about in this article has taken Internet addiction to a whole new level. I would not have ever thought that someone could be so addicted to the Internet that they even sleep with there computers. Even staying up until three or four in the morning just messing around on the Internet is a little extreme. I do not know what you could possibly be checking for that long.

Internet addiction can obviously be a problem. There are so many things out there today such as scams and predators that you really have to be careful what you are doing. Being online for an extended period of time only makes you more vulnerable for something bad to happen. There have been a lot of stories lately about people making fake Facebook accounts and scamming others with them. They either pretend to be someone or they hack into your profile. It is sad really to think about how all of this stuff can happen. People just take advantage of what we have in the Internet, and use other people through it. Someone addicted to the Internet especially should be careful with who they add on their social networks, or even what websites they go to. You just never know what is on the other side of the screen.

All in all I believe the Internet is a great thing for us. It allows us to do many things, a lot of which would be impossible without it. While it can be highly addictive I am still convinced that the Internet has definitely helped us in today's society. Someone that is addicted should be very cautious with what they do, and also should work on finding something else to get them away from the computer for awhile.