...the participants in these forums are becoming addicted to one another...

-- Will Smith (WARNING@WARNING.WARNING), May 03, 2000

Answers

may-be -- maybe-not

-- Eddie Lynch (davismover@aol.com), May 03, 2000.

We ARE addicted to each other.

i know some of the people here better than my real time family. i hate some of them, i love some of them, and i look forward everyday to see what's going on. this place is never dull!

-- (yep @t's the say it .looks), May 03, 2000.

Symptoms of Internet Addiction

1) Using the online services everyday without any skipping. 2) Loosing track of time after making a connection. 3) Goes out less and less. 4) Spending less and less time on meals at home or at work, and eats in front of the monitor. 5) Denying spending too much time on the Net. 6) Others complaining of your too much time in front of the monitor. 7) Checking on your mailbox too many times a day. 8) You think you have got the greatest web site in the world and dying to give people your URL. 9) Loggin onto the Net while already busy at work. 10) Sneaking online when spouse or family members not at home, with a sense of relief.

http://www.addictions.org/internet.htm

-- NoMore4Me (Notgood4us@ohno.mee), May 03, 2000.

I'm DEFINITELY addicted. I couldn't believe it one evening when the oven timer went off. Huh? I just got here. It couldn't have been 20 minutes ago. Want to hear about the hard-boiled egg I cooked that burned onto the pot? Even SOS didn't touch that burn. It's not JUST the interent that causes these things. I once burned the potatoes while writing a letter [in longhand] to my uncle.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 03, 2000.

Will, what is the "danger" you are warning us about? Personally, I can't think of anything better to be addicted to than other members of the human race. If everyone had this problem, instead of being addicted to money, drugs, sex, and materialistic possessions, the world would be a much nicer place to live. :-)

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), May 03, 2000.

11. Noticing pants are wet, then remembering you were just at bathrooms.com.

12. In your email tonight were divorce papers from your wife and a late payment notice from your ISP. You move your wife's email to the Trash folder and immediately begin composing an apologetic letter to AOL.

13. You find yourself wondering what Sysman is eating for dinner tonight.

14. The URL "greenspun.com" is burned into the phosphor on your monitor.

15. Not only do you know what a troll, spam, and a flame are, you forgot their other meanings.

16. Your Uncle's last name is Deedah.

-- (@ .), May 03, 2000.

Hawk,

Out of all the things Iv'e read of yours I think this is the best,not to degrade the others,but IMHO, this is the BEST.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), May 03, 2000.

Hawk:

I agree with the captain. I have certainly found hours of amusement here, and have learned how many more books I have to read, and that I am not alone in the books I have read.

-- FutureShock (gray@matter.think), May 03, 2000.

Hey thanks capnfun and FS, nice to see ya again. One of the nice things about this forum is that we don't need to feel as inhibited as we do in face to face social settings where we are often misjudged. We learn a lot faster by being honest with each other, and hopefully this type of openess will carry over into our society as well.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), May 03, 2000.

""One of the nice things about this forum is that we don't need to feel as inhibited as we do in face to face social settings where we are often misjudged. ""

So Hawk, are you saying you're fugly?

-- x (x@x.x), May 04, 2000.

Fugly? Don't know what that means, so I guess I'm not. What I meant was the anonymity of the Internet. Society is like a stage, and we are the actors. Like many movie and television actors, we become stereotyped by the first impressions people get from brief encounters. From that point on, we are stuck within the shallow prejudiced mold in which we are cast, without much room to change or grow. The internet allows us to reveal the full spectrum of our personalities, without being attached to the pre-conceived "image" of how others perceive us.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), May 04, 2000.

Hawk,

Even on the I-net don't you tend to sometimes stereotype people? using their 1st posts as an image,much akin to a 1st impression.

What I like to see in myself and others is our ability to gradually/ abruptly change and adapt to the different people and circumstances around us.

It's interesting to me both introspectively and socially.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), May 04, 2000.

Survey disputes notion that Internet encourages isolation

May 10, 2000 Web posted at: 9:59 a.m. EDT (1359 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Far from encouraging social isolation, the Internet improves communication with friends and families, according to a study released Wednesday.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project also indicates that more than 9 million U.S. women logged on to the Internet for the first time in the last six months, closing the gender gap among Web surfers and raising the total number of Americans who use the Internet daily to 55 million.

"It's clear that the Internet is being woven into people's most important relationships," said the project's director, Lee Rainie.

The survey results are based on telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates among a sample of 3,533 adults in the United States from March 1-31. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Using the Web to stay in touch

In February, a study by professors at Stanford University and the Free University of Berlin found that spending a lot of time online made some people reclusive.

The Pew study contradicts those findings.

It found that 72 percent of Internet users visited a relative or a friend a day earlier, compared with 61 percent for nonusers. Internet users also were more likely to have phoned friends and relatives.

Fifty-five percent of Internet users say e-mail has improved communications with family, and 66 percent believe contact with friends has increased because of e-mail. Among women, 60 percent reported better contact with family and 71 percent with friends.

"E-mail is a tool that many people now use to deepen and improve their ties to family and friends," said Rainie. "Use of the Internet actually enlarges and enriches most users' social worlds. And that is particularly true for women."

Steven Jones, a professor of communications at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said the Pew findings confirm his own research that Americans are using the Internet as a communications tool as fundamental as the telephone.

Keeping it light

The Pew study found that while the Internet may increase the frequency of contact between friends and relatives, most keep the content light -- e-mailing jokes, news tidbits or family announcements. The study found that most e-mail users are reluctant to use the Internet to discuss upsetting or worrisome topics with friends and relatives.

And although contact increases, it does not necessarily bring relatives emotionally closer. Only 40 percent found e-mail bringing them closer to family, and only 25 percent said they learned more about their family since using e-mail. The numbers are higher for friends.

Rainie said families and friends are close to begin with, so it made sense that the Internet would not always make them closer. The important finding, he said, was the increase in contact.

Women log on

The survey also found online use among women reaching that of men. Women now make up 50 percent of the online population, although men go online more frequently.

Women also are more likely to go online to search for health information, jobs or just to play games. Men were more likely to search for news, sports and financial information, as well as shop and trade stocks online.

The Washington-based Pew Internet and American Life Project is a new research center funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Its mission is to explore aspects of the Internet relating to children and families, communities, schools, the workplace, and civic and political life.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), May 10, 2000.