Internet Addictions and Problematic Use of the Internet: Terminology and Causalities

Abstract

Realizing that establishing a basic terminology is necessary amongst all stakeholders studying or impacted by “Internet addiction” (health, networks, media creation, psychological, sociological, social and economic consequences), a “Basic Terminology” is assembled from universal references in the English language. The “Basic Terms” can in general be categorized and distributed ontologies built. As the “Internet addiction” and “Problematic Use of the Internet” terms have definitions with often causal structures, an “Internet addiction” Causal graph has been built serving practitioners and policy makers. This terminology work may indeed assist policy makers in different fields such as health, information & networks, as well as society at large.