Overcoming Internet Forum Addiction: Signs and Countermeasures of a New Legal Addicti

[Done_With_It!]

Overcoming Internet Forum Addiction: Signs and Countermeasures of a New Legal Addiction

By K. Valentine
Takeaways

* To overcome an Internet forum addiction, GET OFF THE INTERNET!

Murphy's Law- Corollary: "Every solution breeds new problems!" The Internet provides a plethora of forums for worldwide communication. While these forums are very beneficial for gathering instant information and as a way for everyone to express their opinions, they bring forth a new problem: Internet Forum Addiction. Some symptoms and problems I have witness from Internet addition are as follows:
Spending hours in front of a computer screen reading through forums.
This is the easiest symptom to spot. The Internet forum addict in question is simply spending too much time in front of a computer staring at the computer screen. I can see the irony of this statement as I am currently sitting in front of a computer typing something for an Internet blog site and chances are you are sitting in front of an computer screen reading this. The difference between us and the Internet forum addict is that when I sit to type this, I aim only to finish this article. And I assume you are reading this in an attempt to drive off an Internet forum addict.
The Internet forum addict stares at the computer screen simply to browse for information and talk to who knows who on another computer screen. By spending hours living his or her virtual life online, his or her real life is wasting away. Instead of browsing for information to experience, he or she could be out actually experiencing what they are searching about online. The more time a person spends online on forums, the less time is spent on actual communication skills. I met a few online forum buddies in real life who have no social graces or concepts of how to act among real people. Nothing beats reality. I don't mean to be crude, but I'd rather have sex with a real woman than typing about it on a forum.
Overreacting to anyone who disagrees with his or her given opinion.
Internet forums allow anyone to post anonymously. Anonymity brings out the best and worst of people. They can post about sensitive topics to others without reciprocity, which can help in certain issues. But often times, anonymity simply allows people to call other people idiots and other worse insults. As an Internet forum user, insults are just part of the communication. An addict will overreact to the insults directed at his or her opinions and will then insult anyone who disagrees with his or her opinion. This accomplishes nothing and is a waste of time. Some addicts will take the insults too personally and bring it up in the real world. Suicide has even occurred because of this, which is a definite sign of spending too much time online.
Loss of proper spelling and grammar skills when typing.
Because of the instant gratification that Internet communication provides, users have caught up with the speed by typing acronyms, shortened words, and poor grammar to communicate. This may be okay for the Internet forums. But when people take this style of typing and grammar into real communication, it's not okay. When I was in a group project for class, we communicated on the Internet forums designated for the project. I admit my grammar and typing matched the lingo of the usual user and we all understood each other. We hit a huge problem when the group member assigned to type up the reports actually used "AFAIK" and other acronyms in the report to our professor. He said he always typed like that. I had to rewrite the report and our group fired the guy, who now had a lot more time to spend on whatever forums he frequented.
Innate ability to recall virtually every Internet meme and viral video.
The Internet has enabled a lot of people to come up with stupid things on the Internet causing others to mimic it or record themselves doing stupid things and sharing it online. Some of these instances have resulted in Internet stardom and Internet forums have contributed to the madness. People have grown to emulating the videos and memes in the real world, where they're not as funny as they were on the Internet. And since these memes and viral videos are already on the Internet, they're not even original. Internet forum addicts are losing their originality.
So what can be done to reduce Internet forum addiction? My simple solution is get off the Internet. It's easy for me since my Internet connection at home is spotty and I am often disconnected. So when the connection often cracks out, I simply do something else. I walk, I work out, I call my friends, I go out with my friends, or I go shopping for my toy collection. For those with stable Internet connections, simply walking away isn't a simple solution. But the idea remains the same: get off the Internet and do something else. Be proactive and get off the keyboard and find something else to get legally addicted to; preferably with other real people. I hear ballroom dancing is fun.