You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.Ha ha ha. I can quit whenever I want!
I have my off-line relationships. Why only yesterday, I had a conversation with someone. It was about whether I would accept a life that consisted of nothing more than being on line — no physical body or access to the real world at all. We both agreed that it would be better than death, though my interlocutor was only willing to commit to 100 years of that existence. It might be hellish to have to pay endless attention to a world that you can't get to.
Test found via Amba, who scored 44.
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22 comments:
29. I think my daughter would get a higher score than I did.
Maybe the test is meant to make Internet addicts feel better about themselves. Kind of like those Scientology personality tests are designed to show that anyone who takes them has major problems that only the cult can solve.
How often do you block out disturbing thoughts about your life with soothing thoughts of the Internet?
But, but, I can't afford a hot tub!
25. It would have been lower, but "Never" was not an option.
I stopped at the question re choosing partner intimacy or internet. Put me in mind of the terrific new film "Lars and the Real Girl" written by now-striking screenwriter Nancy Oliver. Transition objects have their place, and for many the Internet may be that Object. Paraphrasing the words of a interviewee in the Henry Jaglom classic "Eating" "I never met a man that thrilled me as much as a baked potato"!! On the internet, no one knows you're gnoshing.
Over time, I have found the Internet less and less satisfying. Sure, there are blogs I like and newspapers to read and answers to find. But for the casual "let me sit down and have a good time" surfing? I find it boring. Like watching TV when you don't really care what's on.
Basically, I wish I loved it more.
I'm a 6, "Does not apply" constitutes for never.
22, like Nina, I'm finding fewer and fewer sites that interest me. I've fried a couple of motherboards this year and I find, when reinstalling my favorite sites, I leave up fewer links each time.
I scored a 30. I also would have answered "never" for many of the questions.
I scored 26. Most of my answers would have been Meh if permitted.
The bloom is off the rose. I had a brief but torrid affair with the internet. Now I have awakened to the morning after, with its attendant loss of glamour, shy apologies, and polite regrets.
As Rita Hayworth used to say, "They go to bed with Gilda; they wake up with me."
Oh, lovely Rita, internet maid,
Where would I be without you?
Give us a wink and make me think of you.
Ann:
You are addicted no matter what any test says. I was just thinking what I might post to my own blog - it will be my 500th post - and I stand amazed at how many posts you and Glenn Reynolds make. I am guessing you do 500 every three months! At a minimum.
Keep up the great work- I am glad you are addicted.
I would do the test, but that would mean going on-line and I never do that.
If you decide to do the test, then you are psychologically dependent no matter what your score.
68 and counting.
But, are you addicted to Holidays?
No physical body. Hmmm, no dragging out of bed in the morning, no aches and pains, no hawking up phegm, no walking around sleep deprived wanting to kill everybody else, no stuffed up head, itchy eyes, runny nose, pinched toes, sudden twinges, acid reflux, burnt tongue, chipped teeth, sore gums, stiff neck, no clammy sweats, no sudden chills, no shaking fevers: in short, no suffering. I'll take it!
I think the rating scale is off. I got a 32 and I think I do have a bit of a problem. I think many will take the quiz and think, oh good, I don't have a problem, but they do. I think that above 25 is an indication of a problem- not huge but not healthy.
A really stupid test. The proof? I scored a 30.
It doesn't even attempt to measure actual internet usage, by, say, asking how many hours a day you spend in front of a computer screen when your job doesn't require you to do so. Or how much time on the job you spend doing unrelated online things.
What it does is try to measure your level of guilt about your internet usage. Since there's no shame in my game, I registered as a Normal Internet User, which clearly I'm not.
Doyle, just because it is the highest score you've gotten on a test since 2nd grade doesn't make it a stupid test.
Even though it is a stupid test.
I got a 33. I feel like a LP.
I got a 39, so I'm okay. I think 9/11 and its sequelae really lit up the web, and blogging software did the rest. Now we are in "the new normal," so the newness of it has faded a little.
But now I am addicted to Sudoku on the net. Play with the hints turned on and you can play at a higher level!
"Over time, I have found the Internet less and less satisfying. . . .
Basically, I wish I loved it more."
I am feeling kinda like that, Nina. I think my score would've been higher a year ago.
Why should you want to love it any more than you do? Stay in touch with your real feelings, and go there.
Augustine of Hippo wrote: My love is my weight. He meant "weight" as that natural relationship between an object (rotating) and its centerpoint (point of gravitational attraction). Where MySpace and Facebook and Friendsterites (and LinkedIners) claiming "friends" in the tens of thousands, social scientists (weak citation apology- I think it was an AP story last Wednesday) are reminding us that human beings can effectively participate in 150 "relationships." The columnist made a point which resonates with me: the Internet is a valuable tool to maintain longterm relationships where time and space intervene, and to develop new relationships at a rate of about 1-2 every 5 years, to replace
"lost" relationships.
If my love is my weight, then the Internet is a vitamin supplement. And the inimitable Lucille Ball in the "Veeta vita Vitamin" sketch demonstrates, the dosage matters.
I'm a 30, and I would have answered "Never" to a few of the questions as well. I also found it difficult to decide between "Frequently" and "Often" on some questions.
I also got a kick out of the "do you neglect household chores" question, which seems to assume some sort of universal standard that's not really there. If being online were to keep me from allowing a science-fair project from growing in my refrigerator, that's one thing...but if I forget to dust this week? Meh.
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