A second issue that was tackled is about online relationships. It was mentioned that online relationships bring emotional support to some people, and to others they develop a deeper and serious relationships to the people they meet on line. Some people compare online relationships to real life relationships, with the exception of physical contact of course. But, not all online relationships mean romantic relationships, it can also be in a friendship level or like a support group. Like one of my classmates said, online relationship can be therapeutic to some people. They find people on the net with similar illnesses or problems that they can talk about and relate to. Just by talking to someone makes them feel better and that's therapy in itself. Physical touch is a very good therapy, but being touched emotionally I think is far more powerful because it will always remain in your mind and in your heart. Others go online in search for a romantic relationship and I think that's a little bit more dangerous because you don't know whether the person on the other side of the screen is sincere. You might even get hurt when the time comes for the two of you to meet in person, becasue of rejection.
The third issue discussed was about internet addiction. One of the main reason given why people get addicted to the internet is because they don't know when to stop and when they're told about their addiction to the net, they "deny" it. It was mentioned in the excerpts that "denial is a major component of any addiction or impulse control disorder." I can identify with this issue because I suffered from it, the only thing is that I'm the victim of this addiction. My boyfriend was so addicted to the internet that I felt neglected and ignored by him. He likes to play games on the net until the wee hours of the morning. It came to a point where he was also neglecting his school works. There was even a time when I told him (as a joke) that he's pushing me to have an affair if he doesn't minimize his use of the internet. One day, he came to his senses and he told me that he felt sick in the stomach, because he was so addicted to the net that he was neglecting school and me. And I didn't know that spending too much time on the net can be considered as an addiction at that time, so I didn't know how to help him. But, thank goodness he took the initiative to help himself before he totally became obsessed with the net. He still uses the net, but not as much as before.
