Call The Police, This Whole Place Is Gonna Burn

With new technology revealing itself every month, teenagers find it easy to fall into the grasp of the virtual world.  What with webcams, Instant Messenger, Myspace, Facebook, etc.  It's easy for our generation to lose their sense of reality, their sense of what a real life is like.  Sure, everyone wants to look great in their Myspace picture, but what about stepping out of your house and learning what the world is like and how to get by once you're on your own?

Take a look at yourself right now.  How many friends do you have?  Now subtract the ones you've gained on Myspace, Facebook, Buzznet, and any other form of internet communication.  Now tell me how many you have.  How many do you know in person; that you're able to see every day?  It could be a decent amount, or it could be not many at all.  I'll be honest with you right now, that my list isn't very full.

I'm writing this to talk about internet addiction, and I'm going to admit that I'm one of the many people who have fallen under the virtual spell.  This is the third day I haven't left my house, and all I can manage to do is refresh my Myspace homepage and Facebook asking my virtual friends if they want to hang out.  Rarely do I ever pick up the phone and call my real friends to see what they're doing.  Rarely do I even leave my box of a room to spend time with my mom or my four year old sister.  I talk on the computer, I eat at the computer, I watch TV while at the computer, I even fall asleep at the computer.  I have a problem, and I don't know how to fix it.  Most of you are probably thinking that I'm crazy, but I just want you to think; how much does the internet impact your life?  Does your only best friend live halfway across the country?  Have you every dated anyone that lives two states away?  I will proudly say that I have met some of the most amazing people that live far away, but they're not the only good friends I keep.  I have also never dated anyone simply online, that's just pathetic.

Once you realize how much your life revolves around what goes on in your laptop, it becomes frustrating.  I know that once I wake up, I have to check my e-mail, Myspace and Facebook.  I know that I'm going to give a half-ass attempt at making plans for the day, but then resort to my e-friends for entertainment.  Once it hits around 8 PM, I realize I wasted a whole day and there's no hope in making plans now that it's too late in the evening.  It depresses me knowing that I have this problem, and I feel so incredibly lazy whenever I think of doing anything productive with myself.  I'm going downhill and I need to switch to reverse before I crash.

I just wanted to write about this, because it's been bothering me all day, and if you're reading this, do yourself a favor and don't fall into this kind of trap.  If you realized that you're in the same position I'm in, do yourself a favor and try to get out.  No one needs to fall into the hands of the world's technology, we just need to learn how to use it in a healthy manor.