My Addiction to Internet Success

I don’t quite have an addictive personality, but it’s certainly borderline.

I can separate myself from the things that I love if I need to; however, my definition of “need” can waver at times.

If there is a food I am craving, more than likely I will go for it. If I wake up in the morning and don’t want to exercise, I’ll probably still exercise because I’m used to it. I don’t like to take vacations from work because I enjoy the routine of checking my e-mails and getting things done.

However, the one thing that I could fault myself for is my addiction to my presence on the Internet.

For most of my profiles on certain websites, I have built up my contributions to a significant level. I start out for fun, but after a while it’s difficult for me to remove myself.

For example, see my accounts below on:

• HubPages
• Yelp
• Livemocha

On HubPages, I’ve driven myself to become an Elite and earn a HubScore of 100 every now and then – even though it took quite a bit of effort to build up enough comments and Hubs to do so. On Yelp, I’ve taken it upon myself to write reviews and add friends until I became a Yelp Elite. Additionally, it became a quest of mine to attain the Gold level after taking enough language lessons and submitting enough reviews.

Why do I do this? I wonder myself sometimes and would love some insight from others who know of others who do this, or if they do themselves.

There are a few reasons I could surmise for why this occurs:

• Competitiveness – I can be competitive sometimes… but only if it’s something I know that I can succeed in.
• Legacy – I want to be recognized by others. Also, when you’re at the top, people ask you for help, and I love trying to help people.
• Benefits – I’ve found there can be some real perks to doing well on sites like these. As a Yelp Elite, I get invited to Yelp parties, get to try free food and get free things like lunchboxes and flipbooks. I can try to win free tickets to events and more. HubPages has contests for the very eager Hubbers. Livemocha allows me to improve my German language skills – without having to pay for a tutor or class.
• Occupation – It kills me to have a free moment when I know I could be on HubPages earning income, etc. These free moments are much more frequent now that I’m out of school.

I do try to separate myself to the point where I’m not the best. I do want to try to maintain a life outside of the Internet, and I feel I do that quite well. However, sometimes I wonder what would become of me if I were to lose everything I had… You always have the Internet!

I would love to hear from others who have this same addiction. Thanks for stopping by!