
The internet has become one the arguably the greatest invention in human history. It allows any human to talk to another instantly and almost has the entirety of human knowledge available just a few keystrokes away. The internet has been widely accepted and welcomed by almost every person, but until recently the possible effects of the internet had yet to be researched. Recent studies have shown that it is possible to become addicted to the internet, and those who are affected have tendencies to withdraw from social interaction in the physical world, will sometimes neglect eating in order to stay online, and also begin to show physical problems from malnutrition and improper sleep patterns (Gur, 2015). However, some researchers have found that the internet gives the user more positive well-being and provides the user with more life satisfaction (Chang, 2015). Right now, the internet is proving to be a force that could potentially hurt users.

The suggested claim by most researchers is that the internet has an addictive quality that in most cases causes a plethora of problems from physical to mental and social damage. Most researchers have found that most problems stem from the symptoms of internet addiction. Most internet user once addicted, begin to neglect certain duties like eating or sleeping to stay online longer. Making minor changes in one`s schedule like sleeping or eating less causes unforeseen damage, though there are obvious effects like fatigue, in youths there are potential health problems such as growth stinting or damage to brain function. Though these are results from extreme cases they are looming threats that are possible. Internet addiction is widespread, one journal did a study on how widespread this addiction was by testing the level addiction in five different countries. All five of the countries observed showed significant levels of internet addiction. The findings of that journal can serve as a basis for how the rest of the world may act, it is safe to assume that other countries also have a reasonable amounts of internet addiction. 

Internet addiction can be classified through eight unique symptoms. These symptoms are "excessive preoccupation with the internet, needing to be online for long periods, unsuccessful efforts to cut down internet usage, withdrawal symptoms when decreasing internet usage, problems scheduling appointments, jeopardizing relationships due to excessive internet usage, dishonest attempts to stay online or connect to the internet, and using the internet to avoid negative feelings" (Gur, 2015).  Though not everyone will exhibit all forms of addiction, it only takes showing three or more of these symptoms to be assessed as an internet addict. 

Internet addiction is the most urgent threat from technology as of now, simply because of the effects that we have observed now. Youths now have a possible threat of physical deformation because of the non-active lifestyle that using the internet sometimes includes. With this relaxed lifestyle, people sit in comfortable positions, however, sometimes these comfortable positions are not always the best way to relax. Researcher have discovered that because of the way we sit when we access the internet causes the body to form in a weird way, possibly resulting in things like scoliosis. Those who are addicted to the internet may begin to start missing meals or eat unhealthy to save time to get back online faster. Doing this causes people to become malnourished and could seriously affect health. Eating improperly could cause a variety of problems like obesity to anorexia, or cause again deterioration of the body or brain. Other problems may arise also like eye problems from staring at screen too long. 

Some students may face hardships because of the internet. Though the internet can be an unrivaled academic tool, the use of the internet is also a huge factor to loss of concentration and work ethic in students. Some researchers have found that the internet may be the reason that we have seen a rise in ADD and ADHD in children in the past few years.  Researcher have also found that students are less productive because of the internet. When doing homework, student will often begin to explore the internet. Though, it may seem as a case of lack of self-control, student may have experienced a shortening of attention span because of the internet. Because of the constant flow of the internet, and everyone`s attempt to go over the top to be noticed on the web, people are having harder times focusing on one thing. Most people while doing homework may play music and then with just added content browsing the web, it becomes too much for your brain to process at one time. Then when some tries to focus on one thing them brain feels like it is under-stimulated causing you to want to procrastinate or ignore the task at hand. 

Internet addiction also affects the mental functions of a human. Mainly people use the internet to escape the troubles or stress of everyday life. Doing this causes user to sometime develop antisocial tendencies like avoiding face to face conversations, troubles carrying on a conversation, and spending less time with people in general. People avoiding social lives is a problem because of the possible repercussions, without human interaction people desensitize themselves to the things some people find abnormal.  There are also problems when they are separated from the internet they begin to feel symptoms of depression such as feeling empty or just general sorrow. Some children admitted that when someone interrupts their internet usage they build up resentment for that person (Vural, 2015).  These social problems have arisen in our time because of the new technology present. With the internet, we can communicate with anyone, anywhere instantly. With this power we take away a key factor in human social interaction that has been around since the dawn of man, which is simply speaking in person. Though we have skype and phone calls, text-based chat has become the preferred form of communication for some people. With the withdrawal of this system of speech we lose some social skills like sympathy, which may be why cyber bullying is a problem today. 

 Cyber-bullying is a huge factor that is detrimental to kids online today. Most cyberbullying is just as harmful as the traditional notion of bullying because publicity of the act. Everyone can read and see anything posted online, so when people speak badly of another it adds a bigger sting to it because everyone knows. Some people recognize some forms of cyberbullying as acts of psychological warfare, because some of these attacks makes other user consider suicide to escape the bully. Most cases of cyber-bullying ends with the victim feeling bad about themselves, but in some extreme cases victims may exhibit signs of depression, paranoia, and anger. All of these feelings are natural reactions, but sometimes the pressure and hate from the bullying so they commit suicide. Suicide rates have significantly increased because of the rise of cyber-bullying. 

Research has also shown that the internet has caused some people to have a fundamental loss in morals. In a short video done by MTV, they found that teen shave become desensitized to foul language because of how often and casually it is used on the internet. Teens are also more likely to smoke or drink alcohol or do drugs and be involved with other risky behaviors because of excessive internet usage. This behavior could be caused because of a number of things, but the main reason now is because of other people they see doing it on the internet. Some places on the internet glorify behaviors that would otherwise be seen as unjust normally making some people want to try these things. Online comments are notorious for being fowl and derogatory. Most comment sections on the internet are filled with uncivilized debates with personal threats. 

In a scientific study, researchers found that the well-being of person`s outside life directly correlated their online activity (Chang, 2016). What this article says is that if the person`s physical life is great, their time spent online is a pleasant experience. However, the study also found that made people less motivated to do anything. It found that online activity, decreased the amount of time the person want to spend with their family and lessened their person well-being and personal dignity. One study suggested that college students were more at risk than others to make bad decisions because of their online habits (Koc, 2015). These tendencies often lead to college students to engage in risky behaviors such as drinking and doing illegal drugs (Koc, 2015). College students are also more like to commit suicide because of internet addiction (Kurt, 2015). College student are often the targets online, and often times are involved in problematic internet sessions. These sessions often lead to college students trying to replicate things they see online that may be dangerous to their health, such as smoking, drinking, or recreational drugs, which is why most of these studies have found that the internet is almost directly correlated with college students and negative reactions. 

The opponents to these views have said that the benefits from the internet greatly outweighs the possible risks it can pose. One study said that the suicide prevention of the internet is a great tool for suicide prevention (Mental Health Weekly Digest, 2015). I cannot argue that this is not a great and noble way to use the internet, this service is literally saving lives.  However, the internet causes almost as much as the suicide prevention saves (Kurt, 2015). There was also a study that showed a relation between blogging and self-confidence. The study said that behaviors and overall self-image increased as they voiced their opinions and thoughts online, the only ones that did not have a better self-image after blogging, were those who started to protest blogging (Baker, 2011).  However, according to several other studies, people who post comments online are often uncivil and can become a form of cyberbullying (Konnikova, 2014). In another study it found that internet blogging had a positive correlation with self-image. In one study, it was found that the internet had great educational potential, such as improving literacy. Student were found to have increased literacy proficiency through internet use and playing computer games online (Johnson, 2013). Students were also shown to exhibit better learning skills, and comprehending concepts faster (Johnson, 2013). However, there has been other studies suggesting that when students use the internet they are unmotivated, and sometimes will choose to ignore or put the assignment off to the last second (Gur, 2016). 

So far there has been one reoccurring theme in each of the journals I have mentioned, and that is the internet causes a fundamental breakdown in social activity. While this may be obvious, the implications of this are serious. People begin to just simply shut the rest of the world out in favor of the online world. This kind of behavior has become prevalent because of the internet, and some people`s need to escape the pressures of daily life. Some researchers have even stated this in their discussion part of their reports, that most people who have gone to the level where they prefer the internet over the physical world is because of the need for them to escape daily pressure. There is also a huge problem with internet addiction. One study took a sample from five different countries, and all had at a significant level of internet addiction (Mak, 2015). At least roughly 40% of these samples had internet addiction (Mak, 2015). The problem has now expanded to point where almost half of the population is probably addicted to the internet. The only solution to help combat this is for people to willing cut back on their usage of the internet. 

By cutting down internet usage, it forces internet users to interact with others in a physical setting. Hits is important because most internet addicts try to avoid this kind of interaction, because online interaction maybe easier for them to handle. Also if internet time was cut, the physical symptoms of internet addiction may disappear. Most users have problems like scoliosis or obesity because in order to use the internet most times users are not active (Gur, 2015). The problems may ease off some because those inactive people may begin to become much more active. With decreased internet time we still can keep the internet for its educational and social benefits, and also retain the ability to disconnect from the internet and interact with in the physical world. In a study, it was shown that the internet in an office setting causes a loss in productivity because of the temptation of using the internet for its entertaining qualities (Ivarsson, 2011). By limiting internet usage, productivity in workplaces will increase. Most problems can be fixed by setting a timer on how long you can stay on the internet for leisure activities. Setting it to about 10 hours a week for entertainment is ideal, it gives you an hour a day on the week day to play and socialize on the web, and five hours to spend on the weekend. However I believe that doing things like school, work, or research should not count against the leisure time you have online. Decreasing the amount of time we spend online could also potentially decreasing the amount of time we spend online could also potentially the behaviors that are derived from the internet. The decrease in the usage of the internet could possibly the answer to clearing up the problems posed because of the internet, while also keeping the helpfulness of the internet. 

