Steve Jobs once said about the internet,
"I think it's brought the world a lot closer together, and will continue to do that. There are downsides to everything; there are unintended consequences to everything. The most corrosive piece of technology that I've ever seen is called television - but then, again, television, at its best, is magnificent."
(Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/steve_jobs_2.html#ixzz1nc6Ht2Au)
"I think it's brought the world a lot closer together, and will continue to do that. There are downsides to everything; there are unintended consequences to everything. The most corrosive piece of technology that I've ever seen is called television - but then, again, television, at its best, is magnificent."
(Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/steve_jobs_2.html#ixzz1nc6Ht2Au)
Great inventions have made the world what it is today. Steve Jobs made the point that no matter how great an invention is or intended to be, the down sides are immanent and initially overlooked. He gave the example of the television being the "most corrosive" invention he had experienced, but when it's good, it's great. A similar perspective can be applied to the internet. Multiple negative perspectives can be held, but when it really comes down to it, many of us cannot go for very long without being connected. One of these negative side-effects is internet addiction.
The cartoon below is a realization of how connected and important the internet is for the generations of today. We will be taking an indepth look at the following in the next few weeks:
- What is Internet Addiction? What makes a person have an addictive personality versus non-addictive?
- How people get addicted to the internet? How can you tell if you are addicted to it?
- Types of internet addictions.
- Effects on the lives and communities, and organizations.
- Overcoming and preventing internet addiction.
These are very broad topics of which will include many interesting sub-topics such as how companies and business organizations work arround this disease, costs of this, and how to create a condusive work environment to prevent it. Other areas that will be of interest is how individuals, families, and friends lives are extremely altered by this disease and how to help them get through it.
Please feel free to post comments, experiences, and opinions for creative conversations.
Enjoy and Thank You for your interest!
- What is Internet Addiction? What makes a person have an addictive personality versus non-addictive?
- How people get addicted to the internet? How can you tell if you are addicted to it?
- Types of internet addictions.
- Effects on the lives and communities, and organizations.
- Overcoming and preventing internet addiction.
These are very broad topics of which will include many interesting sub-topics such as how companies and business organizations work arround this disease, costs of this, and how to create a condusive work environment to prevent it. Other areas that will be of interest is how individuals, families, and friends lives are extremely altered by this disease and how to help them get through it.
Please feel free to post comments, experiences, and opinions for creative conversations.
Enjoy and Thank You for your interest!
I like the quote you posted from Steve Jobs; I think it is important to remember everything has a negative and positive side effect. The cartoon you posted is hilariously accurate! I am looking forward to reading more of your teams blogs.
ReplyDeleteThank you Danielle, It seems that people like to focus on the extreme negative or positive, when in every situation both exist. A common realistic perspective for all issues as a happy medium.
DeleteI look forward to reading about some of these topics you all proposed. I feel as though a lot of society today, even myself, are addicted to the internet. As much as a lot of us don't want to be looked at as a person with an addiction, it is true. I can say for myself I rely on the internet for a lot of things; definitions, books, entertainment, music, shopping, news, recipes, EVERYTHING. There is nothing that the internet doesn't have to me so of course it's easy for it to cause an addiction. I don't even see the addiction as a bad thing unless it causes one to be socially excluded from their families and the world itself.
ReplyDeleteVery true, It's not how you use the internet or how often, but how your life is impacted from internet use. If it impacts a person's life drastically and is resulting in negative side effects a degree of addiction is probably relevant.
DeleteI am also looking forward to the topics you guys will be posting. As much as I am curious about what you have to say, I am also emberassed because I know that I rely on the internet way too much. Especially since I have a smart phone, I'm always connected. It is ridiculous. My boyfriend even complains that I do not listen enough and it's usually because I am on facebook or a site like that through my phone.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely looking forward to reading about how to overcome internet addiction!
Well Rose, I would not say that you are addicted to the internet, but if you want to know more look at the other pages on here to answer some questions about yourself to see.
DeleteI think almost everyone is addicted to the internet or being connected whether they admit it or not. With todays technologies enabling us to be connected all the time, it's almost impossible not to be. Sometimes I'll just shut my phone off for the day or leave it somewhere so I can just be free of it all, it is a good practice that maybe some should do. It helps to realize the real world around you more, instead of what is going on in the virtual world provided by the internet.
ReplyDeleteWhen you think of addiction it usually brings to mind uncontrollable, life-altering behaviors, but internet addiction can take on various levels. I would suppose that I might be slightly addicted to the internet because when I wake up in the morning I am craving my coffee and my email. I don't think my morning would be the same without my routine of going through my email while drinking my coffee. If I try to visualize not doing so, I do feel a sense of anxiety about it; about not knowing what is going on in the world connected to me. I suppose that would be a definition of addiction; or one could argue that it is not an addiction and just preparing myself for the day ahead. Many good arguments can be made on both sides.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree Lisa,
DeleteBut I would also say that many of us rely on things on a daily bases, this does not mean we are addicted. We all drive cars, but wouldn't you have anxiety if your car broke down. So I think relying on something to the point of having anxiety without it does not necessarily mean an addiction exists.
I think everyone has some sort of addiction to the Internet. It may not be as much as others, but we are constantly on the go and want to be connected and know information at every moment in our lives. Whether it be through Facebook or the news, we thrive for being in the loop of knowing what's going on with our friends and families and those around the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree Nancy,
DeletePeople have so many ways to get information on the internet these days. It connects people all around the world with just one click. So depending on what people are interested in there can be many types of internet addictions. I think that submerging yourself in the news can have a negative effect just by being so depressing. This could be a side effect of internet addiction. I never watch the news just for that reason.
I think the internet is not becomming more addicting but a tool that we must used for our everyday life. I think it fees like we spend alot of time on the internet but mainly we might be useing it for usefull purposes. I think the internet has its pros and cons with it usage and we should restrick ourself if we spend to much time on the web that is not usefull material.
ReplyDeleteNicholas,
DeleteIt does depend on what kind of internet is being used. I do agree that some use of the web is to get a job done, communication, and information or research. Just because we rely on the internet for purchases, directions, travel, and entertainment does not mean we are addicted.... DEPENDENT maybe a better explanation for some of us.
When I think of internet addiction, I think of someone constantly on the internet playing games, social networking, watching videos, etc. But when you think about it, a lot of businesses are converting to the internet to reach out to people. We use the internet everyday for business (Work, school) and for pleasure (social networks, games). We handle our money online, watch the news online, talk to friends online, and even watch television online. I, for one, am constantly downloading movies and missed episodes online. The Internet has made my life so much easier, and I can bet it has done the same for everyone else, especially essays for school. Use Google, find source, copy and paste. Easy.
ReplyDeleteI agree Brandon, I wish the internet was as wide spread 20 years ago when I was in High School and I bet my grades would have been much better.. Mainly because I hated going to the Library and now all I have to do is go to GOOGLE.COM and credible information is at my fingertips regardless of what I am looking for.
DeleteThe internet is making it possible for businesses to transition to CLOUD services, becoming more efficient, secure, and collaborative. This means that business owners will be spending more time behind their computers and online.
I think that "internet addiction" is turning to an almost inevitable idea. So many industries are converting to electronic based practices; including the medical, business, recreational, and education industries. The trick is finding out what is addictive and what is a necessary tool. Although many social sites are used for marketing and promotion, when do you draw the line at being on them too much? Like a student who spends the majority of their time wasting away on facebook (guilty, at times). On the other hand, when is using the internet to complete tasks and projects for productive work considered adictive? Just some food for thought.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what you are saying in regards to internet addiction becoming an inevitable idea. It is amazing to think of how far the internet has come over the last 15 years. With the smartphone capability to search the internet and view web pages with ease, people are always connected to the internet, and it is too easy to just hours without even thinking about it playing on games on your phone, checking Facebook, or shopping for almost anything and everything. I think we as college students can still remember a time when the internet was slow and logging in was considered a novelty. Imagine how far it will come and how many more people will be addicted when children who have never known life without the internet grow up and become of college age.
DeleteGreat points Ben,
DeleteI can remember when logging onto the internet took 10 minutes or sometimes longer with all the weird connection noises. Sometimes logging on never happened because it was such a dramatic ordeal. Now, all we have to do it take our smart phone and hit the google search button and under 2 seconds endless information is at our fingertips.
Want even more information on internet addiction? Don't forget to check out the other pages on this topic, which can be accessed from the links on the top right of the page.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to read these blogs. It seems like the way the world is going in is towards mandatory internet addiction. The integration of the internet has definitely grown beyond business and government use. It is beginning to involve people very personally. I remember growing up how rare it was to know someone with a home internet connection and now its just as rare to know someone who doesn't have a cable hookup and/or internet on their smart phone. On top of that it seems like those with it have an upperhand on the ones who aren't plugged in to the internet. Even through school we are almost required to check things on a daily basis online. I think that it's hard to identify something as an addiction when it has become a required part of our daily lives.
ReplyDeleteI just realized the actuality of your reasoning. Having internet could be a measurement of the connectivity that a country has to the rest of the world. Thus, being more globalized, like the powerful nations is what made them prosperous. So one could say that not having public internet availability, like some 3rd world nations still may not have, could keep them classified as underdeveloped.
DeleteOn a smaller scale people that have the internet do have an upper hand as you stated. Like I once heard. INFORMATION = POWER
Everyone sooner or later is addicted to something. A lot of people are online due to jobs and school, so are they addicted? After work or school I'm sick of the computer and don't even mess with it at home most of the time.
ReplyDeleteThen, you are definitively NOT addicted to the internet. True, people get addicted to multiple things. It is said that people either have an addictive personality or a NON addictive personality. Regardless of what they are doing, just by making it a habit enables the addictive personality to become addicted. Rather a non addictive person could have many habits forever and never be truly addicted.
DeleteSometimes I wonder what the threshold is for whether you're addicted to the internet or not. If you want to truly think about it, anyone with a smart phone is addicted to the internet. Receiving your email, having access to your facebook, and having hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from can sometimes be seen as addiction, because you're always using it... a "user", which is a common term used to describe an addict.
ReplyDeleteMatt, It has to do with how using the internet effects a persons lifestyle. If he or she neglects things such as family, cleanliness, and health. Please look at the other pages on here to learn more about this. thank you !
DeleteInternet addiction is not as harmful as other addiction because you can choose to be productive with it. Example: if you are addicted to watching videos on you tube, there are a lot of informative videos on different topics that you can watch and learn different things from...
ReplyDeleteTrue, but if you do it so much that you neglect yourself or your family, it maybe considered an addiction. It's not what the material you are looking at or how helpful it could be. If a person watches you tube videos all day and never sleeps, this has a negative impact on that persons life. Same with online gaming. If you spend 6 hours online learning how to garden and the rest of the day gardening, this could be looked at as a positive way. It depends on the context and how it effects a persons lifestyle and others around him or her. Click on the other pages on here to learn more about this.
DeleteMany people are not only addicted to Facebook and other social networking sites, but rather internet gambling and role playing games. An acquaintance actually failed out of college because he spent too much time playing games instead of studying. Now this wasn't just a couple hours of playing rather than studying for a test; this is full-blown morning, noon, and night playing... He didn't last long.
ReplyDeleteJordan,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your friend was addicted to internet gaming. If he only spent a few hours each day and was able to go through life "normally" and school, it may not be considered an addiction. Since it consumed him, we would assume he had at least the minimum criteria to be in the addicted classification. If his job was online or he had all online classes and gamed simultaneously it may have been different.
My point is that if you stay online ALL day long, a person can’t be considered to be addicted to the internet automatically. They have to neglect his or her reality, life, family, goals, and a long list of other possibilities. If a person can function normally and still be grounded to society while being on the internet for long periods of time it could be hard to help them stop using the internet so much. This is because they are not identified easily and they probably won't admit to anyone how long they spend online.
Few studies have been done on Internet addiction, but the ones that have been done defined what “normal” is or how much time online is too much differently. So depending on how a study is defined and what hypothesis they expect to prove right or wrong, IA can be looked at as a serious disease or just another psychological compulsion that human kind created from an invention that backfired on itself.
I think internet addiction is affectioin the way people behaving in society. People who stay online throughtout the day attend to be less motivated and low in self esteem. I think there is a fine line between being on the web and being really intouched with your life and we need to figure out how to separate the two.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points that internet addiction is affecting the way people behave in society, but I feel it is more the internet in general rather than people suffering an addiction from it. People who may not be addicted to the internet can still spend a great deal of time interacting with others on social network sites lose the ability to communicate effectively with people in a face to face setting as they have gotten more comfortable being able to type out their thoughts rather than speak them.
DeletePeople are becoming more and more addicted to it. But it is a useful addiction as we visit any website we are feeding our brain and increasing our knowledge, so is it possible to call it addiction? If it is then, it is the best addiction.
ReplyDeleteWhile I would agree that Internet addiction may not be the absolutely worse form of addiction, it can still be very harmful. Aside from being linked to insomnia and poor eye sight, being addicted to the internet can de-socialize someone. In severe cases, internet addicts can become as detached from reality as a hard drug abuser.
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