In this day and age, it seems like everyone has a problem with something. The latest and perhaps most incredible addiction is the Internet. But is this really that far-fetched? Many would say that it is not. In recent years, especially the last two to three years, more and more people have been working from home or remotely for a living. This is due, in part, to the high price of gasoline and the fact that the United States is facing tough economic times. The bottom line? People are trying to save money as much as possible. Ever since the internet emerged in the 90s, people have been instantly hooked. Now, you can send your friends an ‘instant message’ via AOL Instant Messenger, you can email your grandmother a ‘thank you’ for that Christmas present, you can post photos of your vacation on Shutterfly. It was all too good to be true.

Now, the Internet has expanded so much to the point where people can go about their entire lives online in a virtual format. You can do your banking, book airline tickets, watch movies, upload funny videos, chat with friends on Skype, and much more, all with the click of a button. The Internet has given us almost no reason to need any other source like newspapers or television or even radio to communicate information. After all, why go through all that trouble getting out of your seat and turning on the television when you can simply catch up on the latest episode of The Tonight Show online? In many ways, the Internet has made our lives easier, perhaps too much.

Is it any wonder then that the Internet is an addiction for so many? One of the first things we do when we walk in the door is go directly to our computers to check our multiple email accounts and send a quick Twitter message to our friends. But is that really what one would classify as “addiction”? If you find that you can’t even go a day without using the internet for something, you may have a problem. It may not necessarily be an addiction as much as a dependency on unifying the Internet for what it is: a viable source of information.

Like everything else, we have to learn to watch out for the warning signs that something as simple and innocent as using the Internet doesn’t turn out to be something much bigger. Many times, and like other types of addicts, when we are faced with our excessive use of the computer to log on to the Internet, we will deny that there is a problem. We’ll make excuses as to why we need to use the computer by saying things like, “oh, I just want to check something really fast,” without realizing it hours after we’ve spent so much time on the Internet. To combat this problem, we must force ourselves to get away from the computer, take a break and do something else that is healthy and beneficial to our well-being. Go for a walk; Get out there and get some fresh air!