Internet addiction? Please...

So as I was checking through the news sites that I frequent yesterday, I came across this gem of an article on Reuters.  A study conducted by the University of Maryland asked 200 of its students to give up their ties to all sources of media (TV, cell phones, computer, music, etc) for 24 hours.  Some of the students claim to have experienced withdrawal symptoms similar to those seen in drug and alcohol addiction.  This includes cravings, anxieties, and difficulty functioning on a normal level.

"I clearly am addicted and the dependence is sickening," said one student.  Another claimed that without texting and Instant Messaging capabilities, he/she "felt quite alone and secluded from life."

...lol, ok.  I have a few issues with this study.  First of all, of course these students would feel somewhat disconnected from the world at large and from themselves without media interaction, because they would, in fact, be disconnected from a majority of the world, and disconnected from a medium which has become a part of life in this day and age.  This is the 21st century, and the media is a part of every day life for every one of us who are fortunate enough to not live in a third world country.  We use media for communicating with friends and family, getting up to speed with news and current events, meeting new people, learning new things, and providing and consuming entertainment.  We could do all of these things without the media, and have done so for many centuries, but with the amount of opportunity that media presents to us...why would we?  What these students are experiencing is not withdrawals and anxiety, it's culture shock.

And what exactly does one do with the results of a pointless study like this?  What could happen is that the information could be given to the American Psychiatric Association, they could declare that "internet addiction" is a disorder, and my tax dollars could go on to fun Internet and Media Addiction Centers all across the United States.  But now I'm just ranting and getting ahead of myself.

Of the 200 students who were involved in the study, the article on Reuters quoted two of them.  That is 1% of the study.  While I'm sure that there was more than that who did wish that they could communicate with their friends without actually having to travel 45 minutes on public transit, they did still seem to make it through the day without going through a detox.  Internet addiction?  Please...