Confessions of an internet addict

Before my first internet experience, I used to pray for my family and my well-being. Now, all I pray for is that my data bundle hasn’t depleted.

I remember the first time I experienced the World Wide Web. My father had bought me a Motorola V620 flip phone when I was 15.

Back in 2005, data bundles did not exist. We would use airtime, go into Google and search for whatever we were interested in.

At the time, the thought of becoming addicted to unlimited access to information and entertainment did not seem plausible, so I did not really acknowledge myself as an addict.

My dependence began immediately and I would constantly be on my phone, auto-piloting my way through the menial tasks of the real world as I stayed glued to my screen, searching random things and navigating an addictively unfamiliar world.

In late 2005, Mxit was launched nationwide, drawing more teenagers into their cell phones. Much like Facebook, Mxit had its origins in a prestigious university and at least one nerd.

Developed at Stellenbosch University, it was the brainchild of Herman Heunis, a software developer who later admitted that even his own life became completely consumed by Mxit before the company closed in October 2015.

It was a cheap way to talk constantly to people I knew – and people I didn’t know, which gave me an entire social life in an alternate reality. I would go to bed at 4am on a school week and fall asleep during classes.

As the years passed, more social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram, were added to the arsenal and my addiction grew.

At some point, I had managed to shut the world off. When I would meet up with friends, I would constantly be on my cell phone, even if I was not communicating with anyone, checking empty inboxes and notifications.

I would feel depressed at some point – for no absolute reason, it seemed. It took years to finally come to terms with the fact that I had become emotionally dependent on the internet.

Despite the fact that I was popular in school and I had many friends, somehow there was always a void that only the internet could fill.

I think what is now true of the internet and the main pull for social networking: we could escape our only reality.

While the word addiction is often used loosely, the presence of quite a few internet addiction rehabs in the country and globally, indicates that for some, what should be entertainment and information, has become a clutch for people who have lost touch with their reality.

Nowadays data has become expensive. This, I believe, is a gateway to finding one’s freedom from the net.

The sooner we realise how much money we spend feeding our web addiction, the sooner we start letting go. There is a whole world out there with REAL people and REAL adventures.

Put your phone down and go get some fresh air! – nathin@citizen.co.za