Feb 11, 2008 11:24 pm US/Central
Good Question: Are We Addicted To The Internet?
(WCCO)
Admit it. You've checked your e-mail in the middle of a vacation. Maybe you've logged on during your honeymoon. At some point, your spouse has told you to step away from the computer.
"It's the first thing I do when I wake up, it's the last thing I do when I go to bed," said Kelly Thomas. "Why do I need to check e-mail at 1 in the morning?"
As a senior at the University of Minnesota, Thomas said her social life largely revolves around activities and discussions on the popular Web site Facebook.com.
"I have friends who for Lent are giving up Facebook. But I would miss so much information as to what's going on," she said.
JupiterResearch did a survey in June 2007 finding the average 18 to 24-year-old spends 14 hours a week online, compared to seven hours a week watching television.
Clearly it's more than just college students, who can't put down their Blackberries.
"My two-year-old will say, 'Daddy, checking e-mail?'" said Dr. John Tauer, psychology professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.
According to Tauer, people tend to spend time online in order to form social connections and out of habit.
There's a psychological theory that people develop habits as a result of "intermittent variable reinforcement." Patricia Wallace, a techno-psychologist, was quoted in Time Magazine comparing the allure of e-mail to the thrill of playing a slot machine.
"You are not sure you are going to get a reward every time or how often you will, so you keep pulling that handle," said Wallace.
The American Medical Association considered a proposal to designate "Internet Addiction" as an official disorder during its summer 2007 meeting, but the AMA decided to table the discussion awaiting further study.
Tauer said he doesn't believe our online behavior generally rises to the level of addiction, but he considers it a strong habit with serious consequences.
"It can inundate every minute of every day," said Tauer.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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