Hooked on the Internet

LA Times ^ | 12/26/10 | Katherine Ellison

[freespirited]

In the time-honored tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous, I recently entrusted my fate to a higher power — specifically, to a new software program that shuts off my access to the Internet for a designated time.

I finally had to acknowledge that I was helpless in the face of my addiction, which has had me, especially in recent weeks, tapping my e-mail "refresh" button like a lab rat trying to get cocaine.

I know I'm not alone in my hardwired weakness for novelty. Yet while constantly seeking out new things was once a helpful instinct that alerted us to new foods, mates or danger, it's now a siren's call to being chronically overwhelmed. Even bestselling novelist Jonathan Franzen recently confessed to using superglue to block the Ethernet connection on his computer...

Today, I've got a virtual valet, courtesy of Fred Stutzman, who came up with the Internet-blocking program, called Freedom, as a graduate student, when he needed to finish his dissertation. For $10, you can tell it to shut off your portal to the outside world for up to eight hours...

Stutzman has since sold his program to more than 75,000 people, and gone on to design a new venture, called Anti-Social, which, for $15, shuts off your access to top time-wasting sites including Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendster, StumbleUpon and even EHarmony, DateHookup and OkCupid.

[abbyg55]

Is there an online support group for Internet Addicts? :=)

I know you meant that as a joke, but believe it or not there is...
Center for Internet Addiction Recovery

Excerpt: "Founded in 2004, the group is a safe place on the web for those who feel addicted to the Internet to share their thoughts, feelings, and concerns with one another, and it is a place where loved ones of online addicts, can find support, validation, and guidance."

[Anti-Bubba182]

I think that too....until my internet connection goes down.