Virtual Society Addiction

While such an addiction hasn’t been officially documented, it has come to our attention that given the versatility of the online world, the cyber realm is able to virtually emulate any real-life entertainment in digital form.
Purchasing could be done within the comforts of your home with the introduction of E-shopping. The vice of gambling is just a click away with the implementation of e-commerce, facilitating the use of credit cards on gambling websites. Diaries, once tomes of one’s private feelings and life, are now on the Net in the form of blogs, broadcasting to a worldwide audience the daily events they encountered. Social interactions online in the form of online communities such as Friendster.com and forum boards are now the main source of inter-personal contact for many.

E-Shopping

28% of the Internet’s denizens from around the globe have either already shopped online or intend to do so within the next 6 months. The success of online shopping and auction sites such as Amazon and Ebay have expedited the expansion of E-commerce. A study by comScore Media Matrix has revealed that in 2005’s holiday season alone total e-commerce revenue had reached $18.6 billion.
The establishment of several user-friendly and efficient E-shopping sites has allowed for Internet users to easily hunt for bargains or search for rare products, and these sites have also provided a platform for mini-entrepreneurs to market their products to a potential global audience. Some may find themselves constantly engaged in online scouring of good deals, driven by the motivation of savings or perhaps even a profit when selling off certain rare items. They usually will engage in excessive refreshing/reloading of their product’s page just to wait for a new bid or offer.

Online Gambling

The vice of gambling has never been so accessible to anybody owning a credit card before. Armed with an Internet connection and a personal computer, one could easily visit any of the virtual casinos peppered throughout the Net while seated at home. Online gambling revenue is expected to double by 2010 from $5.1 billion in 2006 to $11.4 billion. Given the privacy that the Internet offers, it encourages an addict to gamble online without any constraints or dissuasion from family members or loved ones as the gamblers could easily cover up their tracks on the Net, or gamble online at the workplace out of the sight of any potential concerned dissuaders.