I remember being obsessed with internet chatrooms in the early 00s to the point where I spent hours in a library and my parents were close to calling the police to find me (this was way before I got a mobile phone). But I was never close to being classed an addict.
For “Jamie”, they couldn’t get enough of the internet.
“The first thing I do when I come home from wherever I am is get on the computer […] The computer for me is like alcohol for an alcoholic. It makes them feel that they can be somebody they’re not—more friendly, more outgoing, more vivacious. I get quite a bit of mail.”
“Jamie”, the internet addict
It’s interesting that the quoted statistic for the average user’s time online was 7 hours a week back in the mid-90s(?). I use the internet 7 hours a day just for work alone.
Related: How to send an email in 1984, RIP Tucows Downloads, and the internet cafe refugees of Japan