tl;dr: I don’t think so. I just really like it. And that’s fine.

I have been pondering recently whether I am addicted to being online.

I’m interpreting “online” quite broadly, in that I’m thinking about accessing my own, self-hosted, services, which accounts for a lot of my online activity, as well as accessing stuff on other people’s computers.

I am certainly online a lot.

I used to think of it in terms of “going online”, but that hasn’t made sense for me - and perhaps others too - for many years now.

I don’t go online. I am online. There’s rarely a moment when I don’t have a phone or some other computing device connected to the Internet within reach.

Doing something online is nearly always the first thing I do in the morning, and the last thing I do at night.

Even leaving my job aside - which is a very online job - I am online a lot for my personal life too.

I have many friends online. Some I’ve met offline, so I have not yet, and some I probably will never meet offline. They’re still my friends.

And there’s a much longer tail of people I know, and with whom I speak regularly online, and from whom I’d happily receive a direct message / email or have a chat if they needed some support, to more casual online acquaintances.

I saw someone recently say words to the effect of “no-one needs social media - just switch the computer off and spend time with your friends”.

“How strange”, I thought. Well, I guess that their life, and friendship groups, look very different to mine. And that’s fine. To each, their own.

None of this bothers me at all.

What got me wondering was when, recently, I realised that I’d be somewhere for a few days - and only a few days; less than a week - and connectivity would be patchy.

Not even non-existent. Just patchy.

And expensive. Not prohibitively expensive (for me; again, to each, their own), especially as a business expense, and also understandably expensive, but still enough to make me think “wow, that’s expensive” before - inevitably - I bought access.

I don’t like not having the option of checking my email, or reading my RSS feeds, or checking in with friends, or looking something up, or whatever it might be.

But does that make me “addicted” to being online?

I don’t think so. I just like it.

I am using the NHS’s definition of addition:

not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you.

I also note the NHS’s comment that one can be addicted to being online:

as computer and mobile phone use has increased, so too have computer and internet addictions; people may spend hours each day and night surfing the internet or gaming while neglecting other aspects of their lives

The key seems to be about a loss of control, resulting in one or more harms.

The “control” point is interesting.

I certainly don’t like feeling that I can’t check something, or do what I want to do online, if I want to.

But if I had an all-day meeting with no Internet access (as happens from time to time)? I don’t mind: at that point, I’m pre-occupied, doing something else.

Would I want to do a “digital detox”? No!

The “harm point” is, I think, more readily dealt with. I don’t neglect other aspects of my life.

I’ve made time to get fitter - admittedly, I enjoy doing that while streaming something from Jellyfin, so I’m still online.

I enjoy reading. But then that’s both books I’ve bought online, and RSS feeds.

I love spending time with my wife. (Okay, so I met her online…)

I prefer chatting with people online than doing so in a noisy pub. But that’s a setting thing: I’m not anti-social, just differently social. I don’t like large (offline) crowds, or busy places.

And so on.

Being online accompanies a lot of my life, and, IMHO, improves a lot of my life.

It doesn’t - I don’t think, anyway - get in the way of things or lead to me neglecting things.

So, no, I don’t think I am addicted to being online.

I just like it.