CBS news reports that more and more students find they may be addicted to social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. With a member’s social network literally worldwide, it isn’t uncommon for users to be up all night either connecting with online friends, but also creating content for their own online presence. The result is not only learning social and technological skills, but the downside is that it’s not uncommon for school work, or even regular job performance to be neglected as a result.

The reason is quite simple. With easy online access (universities have online email and access for every student) and the fact that members of such sites like MySpace, Twitter and even Facebook can keep up with just about every moment of someone’s lives, it becomes rather mesmerizing to see what happens next, or to catch up with literally hundreds of friends around the world any time of the day or night.

The condition is so widespread that even the American Psychiatric Association estimates that millions of Americans are not only addicted to being online, they find it difficult to function without a social network impacting their everyday life. And that’s why the APA is pushing to have internet addiction recognized as a real affliction.

But with the widespread freedom of having access to just about anyone at any time opens the door for negative aspects of social networking including stalking. If a relationship doesn’t work out online, it isn’t uncommon for users to become victims of either stalking or even cyber bullying. Recent headlines of a teen who committed suicide after an adult masquerading as a fellow teen humiliated her online is a perfect example of the negative aspects of giving perfect strangers unprecedented access to one’s everyday life.

According to the APA, there are ways users can detect their own internet addiction. The simple sign is that if you find you can’t function in your real life without the social networks or even Internet access in general, then you need to recognize that you have a problem. And there are a few steps one can use to even manage it as we move forward with our online lives:

1. Set limits: Associate your social network as a leisure activity, not something you need to accomplish every day. Set aside a time of day, for example your lunch or coffee break, to visit the sites.
2. Turn off e-mail notifications: Many sites send e-mail alerts when someone posts a message on your social networking page. Getting lots of these e-mail alerts can tempt you to visit the sites more often, so its best to disable this feature.
3. Don’t leave your social networks open: People using tabbed Internet browsers may tend to leave windows open. It’s best to close out those windows when you are through with your alloted time.
4. Don’t network on your phone: Many social networking sites have mobile applications. If you feel you are on the verge of addiction, you should ask yourself if you really need this on your phone.
5. Finally, unplug. Take time away from the Net for vacations or actual social time. Exercise, read, or create another hobby.

By using steps like this to manage one’s online life, users can use the Internet rather than the Internet using them.