Imagine you're out to dinner with friends, and everything's fine, until you get that all too familiar feeling. You begin to break out in a cold sweat, panicking while you search your pockets and purse for your cellular phone. You quickly tap the Facebook or Twitter app and release a sigh of relief once you see your Facebook or Twitter screen appear. After about 20 minutes of social networking, you can finally get back to your friends.... at least until your next craving begins.
The addiction to internet or medically known as internet addiction order has taken over the lives of 66% of the public. Individuals are sneakily checking their cell phones under the tables, faking bathroom visits just to Facebook in the stall, or plugging up their Crack berries (or Meth droids) in the back of classrooms so not even a low battery will disrupt them from getting that one hit.
Some people may argue that it is all apart of modern day life. However, this isn’t just an ordinary desire to stay connected; it has developed into a full blown need.
Our addiction to the internet is so severe that people have described going 24 hours without the Internet to quitting an alcohol or cigarettes, according to a report from British company Intersperience.
According to the LA Times, “More than half of Americans would rather give up chocolate, alcohol and caffeine for a week before parting temporarily with their phones.”
A recent survey by technology firm TeleNav says:
- · One-third would give up sex, 22% would give up their toothbrushes (versus 40% of iPhone users, who evidently love their phone more than clean teeth)
- · 21% would rather go shoeless before separating from a mobile phone.
- · Sixty-six percent sleep with their smartphones by their side.
- · About 40% of those surveyed reported feeling lonely without the Internet, and 53% felt upset at being deprived. One person described unplugging to "having my hand chopped off."
In some cases, internet addicts have to be sentenced to rehab.The British newspaper The Telegraph reports that in central London there is a rehab clinic called Capio Nightingale Hospital specifically for individuals who are addicted to the web, computer games, and mobile phones.
The rehab is dedicated to helping "young people [ some of which are as young as 12] to go ‘cold turkey’ from their technology compulsion."
This is serious people!!! KIDS ARE IN REHAB!!!
What do the suppliers (Motorolla, Apple, or Google) or the drug dealers (Spring, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile) think of all of this? On one hand, their customers are willing to neglect their personal lives and risk going to rehab than to be without their smartphones. On the other, these companies hire a large portion of the general public. So what do we do? Get rid of jobs or cure the addicts?
No comments:
Post a Comment