Simply put, yes I do

Not an internet addiction but more of the convenience of being able to access nearly any information I want at any time on my computer or smart phone. Its to the point that if I have a personal issue with a friend or something, there is a split second reaction where I tell myself that Ill just google it. But thats imoossible

I used to spend all day online, as I'm sure most of you can attest to. I think I logged more hours on the MA alone than some of the mods for a while there. It all came to a halt when my PC died on me and my job's web filter finally blocked the MA, so I basically went from about 12-16 hours a day to almost none at once. Just got a computer this week, so I've been surfing very lightly, and I've functioned totally fine without this whole time.

David, you're back! We quite missed you!

Don't lie to me. I know where you reside.

I know his dad's name! Welcome back, hope to see you in the facebook group soon.

Let's hope. I've been incredibly busy forever now. Five bands and a girlfriend and all that.

5 bands? I can barely stay in one! And yes, no need to come to my residence and torment me. I'm quite easy to pick on in real life despite my tall posture and feminine looks. Anyway, yes Tony knows my dad's name. So do a lot of other people.

i don't have an internet addiction. it's just that i usually don't have anything better to do.

This. And when I'm just at home all day, I usually find some other things to do to keep me from staying on the internet all day (even if it is just walking around in the woods smoking weed and listening to music or watching TV...though I guess Netflix on the Roku is still using the internet anyways). Surfing the internet too much in one day bores me now, though I did it all the time around a year ago.

yeah i probably am addicted. i'm on the internet/computer pretty much all the time, but it's because the computer has everything i can ask for and friends never want to do anything so i'm like a hermit. i have a friend who's like me but he's way worse; he lived his schedule around the computer one summer, only getting an hour of sleep per night so he could spend the rest 22 or 23 hours of the day using the computer. the sad thing is, i'm not exaggerating about this.

I wonder if this is the first type of communication we commonly refer to as something you can be addicted to. Lots of people in the past spent a large amount of their time reading and writing letters or talking on the phone, yet no one thought of those as addictions.

Yes

Im even more addicted now, since I got a new pc a few months ago. I can hook it up to my hdtv and download and watch movies on it. I also play games(which I either download or can find at really good prices). I ended up buying an ebook reader, since almost every author I read is going in that direction now.

It always starts as a quick distraction....

Just five minutes...

Yeah, people might say that I'm addicted to the internet and that I need help, but I think internet addiction is just a pseudo-disorder created by the psychiatric industry in order to con more money out of you. On top of that, humans can get addicted to pretty much anything. I watched this one program where a woman was addicted to eating dirt, and another one where this woman was addicted to smelling pine cleaner.

Yes I definitely do, but I've never really had much of social life before anyways, so I don't really care.

I'm not addicted althought i spend abouut 4 hours a day in front of my laptop .
The rest of the day im playing guitar ,learn for school ,doing some sport ,watching TV and be on the phone.
Of course ,the internet is a good thing there's everything you need in it but some humans surrounding you is not that bad.
Hanging out and getting drunk with some cool people is always a good thing ,however ,i dont see the point
in talking to uninteresting people which you dont give a shit about.
Most of them are speaking about superficial crap anyway so it would be rather a waste of time talking to them.

You described a lethargic feeling ,i know this kind of Avolition ,and i usually do sport.
It serves some kind occupational therapy purpose.
Just throw in your most agressive Cd in and do some lay supports,sit ups or buy some weights and life them.
I always have to force myself to do this but i will regret it when i get fat and feeble.

You just have to do something else instead.
Play or learn an instrument ,draw a picture ,buy a recording program and create some noise music ,restore a oldtimer...
I dont know where youre talents at but DO something.

A tip :When you can't get out of bed or you're lazy,lethargic whatever... take some drops of a really hot chilli sauce
on your tongue ,you'll wake up immediately.

Yup, I'm definitely an internet addict. I spend hours upon hours just glued up to the screen, checking out all kinds of stuff.

I'm pretty sure I have an Internet addiction. I find it hard not to spend hours on the computer each day when I have a wealth of, well, most-anything I want right at my fingertips. It also makes it a lot easier to meet others with common interests. I've got real life friends whom I hang out with and such, but I've found it challenging to find anyone I have anything in common with in this small town.

Yep.

My entire life is spent in computers (software company). It's pretty hard not to be an "internet addict" under those conditions, whatever that means.

Face it. The day is coming when we will simply hook the internet into our brains directly. Science fiction is about to become reality. What we've seen so far is just a prelude to the madness to come, folks. For better or worse....

Well, working as a system engineer and server admin I spend a lot of time in front of the screen. Funny enough, when I get home from work I feel that I want to do other stuff than sit with the computer. Sure I go online now and then in my spare time, but addicted? Absolutely not.

At the moment there's no other reason for me to go outside than shopping for groceries or attending scheduled therapist appointments, so obviously I have a lot of spare time to spend however I like (school and work are also out of question) but I have never missed the place when I have had better things to do. Simply a matter of having nothing else to do and/or being bored. Something many people can relate to in this day and age, I guess.

You could say I'm addicted to a certain site.

I'm not an internet addict. I could stop if I needed to. I find other things to occupy my time. Though I may miss getting on certain sites if I go with out it. The Internet for entertainment purposes isn't something I rely alot on. I do have internet connection at my house so I know over the summer I won't be getting out that much. The only site I frequent alot is Tumblr.....that's my release from everything.

Humans have an inane way of wanting to be looked at, and social networking sites feed that so much. My number one rule would probably be never get a smartphone. Those things are hell with internet and facebook. I like to think that sometimes there's my computer life (mainly games and talking to people with similar interests) and real life, (school, work, girlfriend, band).

There's really nothing wrong with only associating with people you have similar interests with over the internet to take a break from all the dumbfucks in your real life. Metal-Archives is a community where virtually anyone who registers gets along with the next user. Also, I've been a part of a VERY active "metal" group over facebook for half a year now, and we've all grown pretty close. Sometimes it feels like it's a virtual pub where you can just meet regulars and get so drunk that you can talk about your personal lives with them ( If anyone of my "people" are reading this, you know what I mean by Sad-drunk hour )

I believe it's more beneficial because your knowledge with metal and many, many things grows much larger with the internet (such as cultural diversity, politics, pretty much anything you're knowledgeable of)

But... Like I said, don't get a smart phone. You'll find that it's almost as addicting as texting. You'll find yourself checking your facebook/communities way more often. When you're at work, you should work. When you're at school, you should learn. When you're home, relax and play. This may make it hard to study, though. It's mainly a motivational thing. "Why should I do this 10 point homework assignment when I could just play Disciples II and listen to Candlemass?"

Well, you don't want to get stuck in that rut. It's very difficult to get out of. Just be reasonable with your times.

(by the way, I have nothing to do in school right now, so I'm on one of the class computers typing this up )

EDIT: Ah, I didn't even know that Tony and Ralf were already in this thread, I assume they'll laugh at the part where I was talking about Sad Drunk Guy Hour, haha.

I've been surfing a lot more now since I started the whole online dating thing. I get on the computer to check my stuff, then onto Facebook to check that, and then before I know it, it's been an hour and I'm on Wikipedia and listening to Pandora. I'm no where near the amount of time I used to log, but it's steadily getting higher.

"Do You Have Internet Addiction?"

I'll try to separate most people's internet activities into these categories:
[1] Social networking - MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, MSN, Skype, emails, forums, online dating sites, etc.
[2] Instant gratification/entertainment/escapism - usually pornography, anime/manga, movies, music, art etc.
[3] Education/learning/training/knowledge acquisition
[4] Downloading stuff from category [2] above, plus video games and eBooks.
[5] Playing online video games.
[6] Watching news channels for information about current world events.
[7] Browsing/surfing quasi-aimlessly, wandering wherever the hyperlinks may lead to.
[8] Work!

At certain periods, I was engaged much more in 2/3 specific categories than the rest, but these have fluctuated over the years - right now I'm binging on manga and youtube videos like never before.

Yeah, probably.

I would say that I am addicted to internet. Regularly I visit my favorite websites (MA is one of them), curious about all the news that are there. Of course, I can do without it a day or two but then I am getting to be rather nervous.

Do I ever... my shack is filthy because of it. I practically breathe maggots at night, and I even have before (they were inside of my wife's mouth one night!)

Yes. If I wasn't addicted to internet I would be a full-blown alcoholic though.

Yeah I'm hooked. Throw in a line, sinker and a copy of "Anglers' Monthly" as well.

Yes.

I'm not sure if Internet addiction is "real" since it encompasses so many things. I can read, play video games, watch videos, talk to friends, etc. on the Internet so it seems to be a bit of a large category to be addicted to. It's more that people seem to really enjoy the efficiency of it that we are on it all the time. On the other hand, I still have a social life, so I guess that rules out me being addicted whether it's real or not.

I wouldn't say I'm addicted yet, but I'm spending more and more unnecessary time online these days. And for the OP or others in need for ideas to help stop, have you tried physically distancing yourself? For instance, moving your computer out of your bedroom so it isn't always right there in front of you.

No, but I am online way too much out of lack for something useful to do. supposedly.

I like to tell myself that I don't have an Internet "addiction" becasue I'm not as bad as the basement-dwelling, disgusting, overweight dude who never sees the light of day. Lately though, I've been noticing that I spend a bit too much time on Facebook and the like, so I've been trying to occupy my time with more productive activities. I've recently took up running and I'm trying to work myself up to be able to run a 5K, for example. There is no doubt though that the Internet will always be a part of my day-to-day life.