Web loss causes psychological problems

The Internet Deprivation Study tried to get a group of consumers to give stay offline, then report back. Nearly half couldn't take the world without the net for more than two weeks, and the median time participants could go without logging on was five days.

According to Techweb, Yahoo found it incredibly difficult to recruit participants for this study, as people weren't willing to be without the Internet for two weeks.

Those in the study complained that they felt left out having to "resist temptation" to check out the Web, and missing their "private escape time" during the day.

Others complained that they looked lazy to co-workers when they resorted to traditional means of communication such as talking on the telephone or reading a newspaper and they felt cut off from their mates.