Knowing where to draw the line with internet use

By Andreas Thieme Aug 26, 2010, 18:24 GMT

Hamburg - The internet has become an essential part of our daily lives. Whether chatting, watching videos, listening to podcasts, booking holidays or online banking, a growing number of activities are happening over the internet. However, spending long stretches of time online can become a problem when other parts of our lives are forced to take a backseat.

There is one big reason to explain why the internet has taken on such great importance. 'The technical barriers have come down,' says Jan-Hinrik Schmidt from the Hans Bredow Institute for Media Research at the University of Hamburg. It has become easier to publish all kinds of information, to work with others, to filter information and develop it. The same applies to other activities such as writing emails, chatting, planning a break, editing photographs or playing games.

'The more opportunities the net offers, the more time people spend using it,' goes the formula. According to Germany's IT trade association Bitkom, 26 million Germans conduct their banking online out of a total population of 82 million. Thirteen million of them book holidays over the internet and six out of 10 engage in online shopping.

Seventy per cent of Germans use the internet and young people are especially active with almost 98 per cent of them going online. They are 'almost completely in the digital world,' according to a recent study.

The internet is also the place where different forms of media conglomerate: television, radio, video, podcasting and chatting are all possible via the internet or over a smartphone. Among the younger generation the internet has already overtaken TV in popularity. 'The internet has developed into an important instrument for organising our lives,' says Schmidt. Experts call this development habitualising.

It is especially common among 'digital natives' - young people who have grown up with the internet - for whom the virtual world has become a matter of course. 'The goal is to always be available and to stay in constant contact with friends,' says Schmidt. That happens to the greatest extent in online social networks such as Facebook or MySpace.

It is not easy to determine when using the internet has become a problem. In many instances people use the internet parallel to other media such as watching television or listening to music. At the same time there might be a live ticker for a football match or a video stream loaded in the browser.

One way to gauge the answer is to consciously judge how long and how often you use the internet, according to Bernd Berner from the Institute for Media and Online Addiction. 'Over 35 hours per week is regarded as being excessive.' Boredom and social isolation are causes for a withdrawal into the virtual world.

Intensive use of the internet often reveals itself to be an issue when thought processes and behaviours change. 'If you intend spending half an hour updating your profile and you're still sitting at the computer three hours later, then you're overdoing it.' It is also a bad sign if you are thinking about the next level in your online game while at school or attending a lecture.