Internet Addiction: Hamlet's Blackerry By William Powers

Improved Essays
Gina Prakide
Professor Barrier
EG101
12 November 2015
Internet Addiction Most people all over the world use Internet as an escape from reality, or from boredom. But how do people know if they have an Internet Addiction? In the book Hamlet’s Blackerry, by William Powers he says“ In fact, there’s a great deal of ongoing research about connective technologies and how they’re affecting individuals, families, businesses, and society at large” (17). Most people have different kinds of addictions, an addiction of some sort of crave or urges, the one most people do not know about is Internet Addiction, an addiction that can possibly harm friends and family. I decided to do my research essay on different types of Internet Addiction. The top four internet addictions I am going to include in this essay are: cyber-relationship addiction, cybersex addiction, and net compulsion. The first internet addiction I would like to mention is cyber-relationship addiction. A cyber-relationship addiction is an addiction that makes online friends more important than real life friends or family. According to Kimberly Young’s studies, “‘Internet addiction affects individuals’ family, social and professional life negatively. Individuals using internet excessively try to keep it as a secret from their families and therefore deterioration in family relations rise. Internet addicted individuals spend little time with those who are around them and this affects interpersonal relations negatively, even cause conflicts and the termination of relations”’ (qtd. Ayas 2). Internet is a dangerous thing if people do not use it correctly, what makes people want to be in a cyber-relationship? According to Young, “‘convenience- in your own home you have the accessibility of the world at your fingertips. With a few finger stroke of keys, you have within the walls of your home, romance, sex, games, adult books, and more. There is no need to leave your living room, change your clothes, fix your hair, or spend money on expensive dates to romance someone (qtd. Armstrong 2). What Young is trying say, is that people can create false profiles and talk to other people through social media, they would make the other person believe it was them. People who are addicts use cyber- relationship to create fantasies when they find themselves stressing or having a horrible time. People who are not addicted to the internet would think about leaving their partner because they would think being in a cyber relationship is like having an affair. Dr. Kimberly Young believes that women with depression tend to seek cyber-relationship more because of how they show themselves through social medias. Also she talks about how if they are having a terrible day they could just get on the computer and find unconditional support from strangers online (Armstrong, 3). The second Internet addiction I would like to mention is called cybersex addiction. cybersex addiction is being addicted to pornography, or being in an adult chatroom. According to Kimberly Young, a clinical psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh “‘A lot of people don’t consider cybersex cheating ... They rationalize that because it is not physically touching someone, it is not sex. But it does take away emotional and physical components from the primary relationship”” (qtd. in Armstrong 2). Another thing Young mentions is that men have a hard time finding power and taking lead from sexual frustrations. Young believes that when male goes on to these cyber adult websites or chat sites they would undergo excitements because of lack of sexual communication from their spouse, so they end
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In the article “How to beat addiction to cyberspace,” by Leslie Armstrong, she believes that people would become aware of how much time they spend on the web, or their spouse would confront their partner for being online for too long, and if confronting still does not help them, than get professional help such as seeing a therapist, look for an addiction class, or even ask a family member to help them. People can also use software filters, these software filters can prohibit the viewing pornographie sites or any sites you feel like it is not safe, software filters like Mayberry, USA or any thing that can block anything that seems suspicious. People can also monitor their internet usage,which can limit the time people spend using the web

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