Who Suffers From Computer Addiction?
WHO SUFFERS FROM IT? Computer addiction is shared by the young and the old, the meek and the bold. “Now the addiction strikes women as often as men, young students as freqently as retirees,and folks of all intellectual levels.” [39] As media like the Web make it ever easier to access the Internet, it becomes less and less necessary to understand computer technology in order to become obsessed with computers. Different groups of people are inclined to be afflicted with different kinds of addictions, but there are plenty to go around. People with underdeveloped social skills, from the slightly insecure to the very geeky, are drawn by the social ease inherent in electronic communications like email, MUDs, and IRC. As the well-known cartoon says, “On the internet, no one knows if you are a dog.” You can hide your appearance on the net, assume alternate personas and genders, and generally feel far less inhibited than in face-to-face interactions. People who have difficulty with live interac
