Internet Addiction: A New Epidemic? Jay David Bolter (1991), the author of the article titled, "The Network Culture", insisted

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Internet Addiction:  A New Epidemic?

        Jay David Bolter (1991), the author of the article titled, “The Network Culture”, insisted that computers offered people the chance to build networks with other people and to work in isolation from other groups.  He also adds that the computer can provide people the freedom to pursue their interests and that they are secure from different cultural elements.  Furthermore, he believes that the computer also provides a place to hide from the world of work, leisure, and other electronic media.  Since its inception to the general public in 1995 (Castell, 2001), the Internet has become an everyday technological tool for society.  It serves many purposes for individuals such as shopping, researching, and communicating, etc.  As the Internet became more developed in the past decade, people have become very dependent of the Internet (Young, 1998, p.237).  Bolter may have some good insights towards technology but is too much of a good thing (like the Internet) a bad thing?

        This paper will analyze the Internet addiction that exists in society.  Internet addiction is like any other addiction.  It has become a growing concern in past years.  This addiction can have a damaging effect on the families, work sites, personal finances, and social relationships of the afflicted (Sandoz, 2004).  What has contributed to this addiction?  There are many factors to this.  From my personal observations, the Internet is, of course, accessible from the comfort of the individual’s home and is just a few clicks away, as Kraut, Patterson, Lundmark, Kiesler, Mukopadhyay, & Scherlis (1998) states: “The capacity of the Internet to alter our daily lives is evidenced primarily by its accessibility and convenience” (p. 1017).  Kraut et al. also believes that “The Internet is actually a socially impoverished medium that separates users from their community” (p. 1020).  Here is an example of what I have encountered regarding Internet addiction:

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        I have two friends that I have known since grade 3.  I will call them Joe and Pete.  I have lost touch with Joe because he stays at home most of the time using the Internet for gaming and sexual purposes.  Pete on the other hand has a gambling problem, as a result of playing on on-line casinos.  They both have anti-social traits and have said that they would rather communicate on-line rather than in person or over the phone.  I have not spoken to either of them for almost 3 years and still to this day I do ...

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