In this day and age the internet has provided a steady stream of news, and the amount everyday is staggering. I personally have a daily routine of a number of news sites that I check which cover varying topics. However, where do you draw a line in the sand? What I mean is how do you know if your spending too much time on these news sites? Is it time spent on those news sites, or the number of news articles perused? I don't think it is clear cut at all. For example during a time of national crisis anywhere in the world should you feel bad that your empathy for others outweighs your addiction to news. During my quest for something related online I came up a little short. I did come across a
blog about someone who went thirty days without reading any news from any source, a noble effort! He started out eliminating just newspapers and constant news networks, but quickly found out that it was the internet news sites that were the real problem. In reality the phrase "everything in moderation" applies well, its important to realize your own habits and needs online and act accordingly. I found a
12-step program for news addicts, but to my amusement its a column on great sites to satisfy those news cravings so check it out, and don't stay on too long.
Reference:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/09/overcoming-news-addiction/
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/executive_tech/article.php/3676521/The-12-Step-Program-For-News-Addicts.htm
Is it such a bad thing to be addicted to knowing what is going on in your state, country or even the world? The only problem I see in this is if it affects businesses. I.e. if employees are not working and constantly spending time looking at news articles on the internet. One of the things that we are told throughout school is to stay aware of what is going on in the world today.
ReplyDeleteI am not addicted to news, but I am definitly get distracted by them. Every time I am on Internet (checking my bank account, email, researching something) I read news. There is always something that catch my eye and I start reading. Then don't forget about related topics that always included with " the major news". So instead of 10-15 minutes I ended up spending 30-35 minutes on Internet...
ReplyDeleteI think it's hard to remember that there once was a time where you may have watched news, at most, three times day. This was before cable and internet when you watched news on local stations in the morning, afternoon, and night. In this day and time, I definatley believe that a news addiction could post a real problem. I feel that the line should be drawn at the point where you quit completing your your school or job responsibilties on time because you were constanty reading the latest news story. There's also the thought that at some point you become over informed.
ReplyDeleteThe only website I check daily is ESPN, but I only spend a max of about 30 minutes on the internet daily. I feel like the internet has allowed people to access news easily and quickly and nobody should spend more than four hours reading news articles. If so you might need help.
ReplyDeleteIt think that I'm somewhat addicted to the news, however I do not think that it is affecting my life. When I'm at work, I do my job. But I can probably look at the news less than I usually do. I'll probably try to follow your rules and see just how addicted I really am.
ReplyDelete@David Knight: I definitely think that staying worldly is important, and the 24 hour news sites are a great way to do that. But, like you said the boundary that must be maintained is getting your work done.
ReplyDelete@Jenna Rheuark: The funny thing about that time that we used to watch news was that it wasn't long ago! I remember when I was a kid I used to watch the news with them.
There are those people who are addicted to news sites such as the New York Times and CNN amongst countless others but a trend i am curious in learning more about is the amount of time that people are spending on pop culture news sites such as TMZ and Perez Hiltons's site. There are growing and often entertaining but i feel that people have begun to rely on these sites a little too much.
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