Internet Addiction?

Internet addiction -defined as "excessive gaming, sexual pre-occupations, and email/text messaging"

After reading this article, it made me think. Am I an internet addict? hahaha.. Let's see.

I really can't remember the exact year when I was introduced to the world wide web and the internet. Maybe that was between the years 1996-1998 and I remember that my dad subscribed to a post paid dial-up plan worth around P1,000 for 5 hours a month! Gosh. I can't believe that I survived having only one hour of internet in a month.

Before, I really don't have any idea about computers and the internet. I remember that my first email account was created for me by my sister and my password was "ArthurDw". haha. Arthur was this little aardvark with big glasses (but I think he looks more like a bear) and Dw, his younger sister, are characters from the cartoon show (my favorite) "Arthur". See how young I was then? lol

I created my second email account at Rocketmail which is now part of Yahoo Mail I think. Then more accounts were created until I can't remember all my passwords. The funny thing was nobody was sending me emails except for my dad and my cousins. haha.

After some years, pre-paid internet cards got introduced so we decided to cut our internet subscription. The card's price was P100 for 10 hours. Wow, that's cheaper than the post paid plan. But dialing and connecting to the ISP was like hell. It can take up to 25-50 attempts before you can get connected. Also, I can't go online for hours because someone keeps on calling our land line telephone. That sucks.

But whenever I'm online I see to it that I download songs from Napster and Kazaa. Haha. Hey, don't look at me, I'm sure you have at least 100 illegally acquired songs! lol

I also got introduced to Yahoo Messenger and MSN with my chatmates, yes, my dad and my cousins. It was soo much fun! Right... lol

Then as the years went by, a lot of people at my school got their own IM accounts and my list kept on growing. So that was when my internet addiction started.

Chatting with your friends and schoolmates was cool. Can you imagine how one can communicate just by typing letters on the keyboard? Nice. haha

Then around the year 2001, unlimited internet dial-up plans were introduced with the cost of just P750 a month. Wow that's a bargain. So I asked my mom to apply and subscribe to it at once and get an additional telephone line so that I won't get disconnected every time someone calls . haha. Yeah, I can be a bit bratty. Now, I can really surf, download, and chat for long hours. Yay more addictions! lol

Year 2003 was a very memorable year for my life as an internet addict. Why? We finally subscibred to a post paid DSL plan!!! Wohoo! Then the rest was history.

Currently, I think my addiction isn't that worse as before anymore. I still download stuffs *coughtorrentscough*, surf my mails, post on boards, forums, blog, and chat a little. I think the internet is now boring for me. Haha. I don't stay online 24/7 anymore. Hey, my precious babies need to rest too. I also try to meet real-life friends and not rely on online buddies which I'm sure I will never see.

I organize or initiate M&G's (Meet and Greet) with my online community so that I can get to know well those persons that I spend most of my online time with.


The primary reason why I go online nowadays is to shop. haha. Earlier, I asked my mom if I can get a supplementary credit card from her. lol

So, are you an addict?

(^0^)