Addiction Info and Advice

How much Internet use is too much? You enjoy time on the Internet, surfing the web, staying in touch with friends, playing games, and watching your favorite videos. Some people tell you you have an Internet addiction, but you don't think you do. So how do you know if you have an Internet addiction? If you are at work and have to be away from the Internet for 6-8 hours and you feel a major urge to check your email or log onto the Internet from your cell phone, and if the Internet is all you seem to be able to think about then it is very likely that you're addicted. If you still aren't sure, put it to the test. For one full day - 24 hours - stay away from the Internet. That means, no checking email, no logging onto instant messengers, playing games online or on your computer for that matter, no surfing for information or images, no forums, chat rooms, watching videos - nothing. Can you do it? If you can stay off the Internet for one full day without feeling like you're gonna go insane, and if you don't feel yourself constantly counting how many hours are left before you can use the Internet again, chances are you aren't addicted. However, just because you can stay off the Internet for one day doesn't mean you should feel confident that you will never become addicted. You could very easily become addicted if you spend enough time and develop a habit of being on the Internet. If you are mainly using the Internet for work or making money, then that's your job and it's more acceptable. However if you are using the Internet for long hours playing games, socializing online more than in person, or watching videos for hours on end - anything that's typically for entertainment purposes then you should watch the amount of time spent on these types of online activities. Anywhere between 1-6 hours per day should be okay, but try to limit your time online as much as possible. Keep in mind that many Internet-based business thrive off people with Internet addictions. If you've heard of the game World of Warcraft, which is a massive multi-player role playing game, millions of people from all over the world become addicted and the more they become addicted, the more money they spend to play the game. The same concept applies to bloggers who depend on people to read their blog posts every single day, social network companies who thrive off people who love creating profiles of themselves and adding their friends, and many other websites depend on Internet addicts to keep coming back. This knowledge may be enough to keep some people from surfing certain sites all the time. The main way to hinder your Internet addiction is to have your Internet shut down for at least a month. Remember that only 15 years ago, people survived just fine without any Internet at all. In fact they survived quite nicely without cell phones too. You can live without the Internet, and knowing what life was like before the Internet came out, and how life would be if the Internet was never invented can help you stay offline longer.