Are You Connected?  Or Are You Addicted?

Is the Internet really just another tool, resource, and way to get information?

Many are in denial but the truth is that there is an epidemic of massive proportions called “WEB ADDICTION” and to date, no real focus on a cure.  Society has accepted that, for the most part, these are safe addictions and since hundreds of jobs are being created, and there are millions of fiends all across the country with billions of dollars being made, there will most likely be no effort in the near future to find or create a “web addiction” cure.

Excluding email, pornography, and Google.com, these are the Top 10 web addictions in the US.

These are just the numbers for November 2011

1. Facebook.com – 7.2 Billion visitors
2. YouTube.com – 2.3 Billion visitors
3. Twitter.com – 167.3 Million visitors
4. Yahoo Answers – 112.4 Million visitors
5. Tagged.com – 81.1 Million visitors
6. LinkedIn.com – 71.5 Million visitors
7. MySpace.com – 53.9 Million Visitors
8. MyYearBook.com – 44.9 Million visitors
9. Yelp.com – 34.1 Million visitors
10. Pinterest.com – 31.7 Million visitors

There are some folks who are actually using these social media sites as tools and are making some money by putting in the time strategically and implementing a focused effort to grow their business, but the majority of people on these sites are addicted.  They visit for the first time, create a profile thinking it’s the thing to do because everyone else does and all their social influence and friends are there too, then slowly and surely over time, obsession starts to consume and posses them.

The top 10 signs that you’re addicted to these sites:

1. You dream about them and the content you’ll create wakes you up
2. You bring your mobile device to bed with you, and use it
3. You fall asleep… at the computer while reading a review on Yelp
4. You lie to your spouse when she yells upstairs, “what are you doing?”
5. You sneak into bathroom and run water in shower just to use your laptop
6. You forget mobile device at home and drive back 50 miles to get it.
7. You don’t get a “like” or “Retweet” and you begin crying and pouting
8. The electricity goes out and you instantaneously curse at the world
9. You’re willing to pay money for any of these sites just to be a member
10. Your hard-drive fails and at the same time, so does your heart.

So Are you just connected, or are you really addicted?