addicted to the internet

On a discussion board that I participate in, someone posted a link to an article about people being addicted to the internet. I didn't actually read the article but I did think about the idea of being addicted to the internet. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm addicted, but I am pretty dependent and connected. A couple of months ago, I got a new phone and also got full data connection, which means that from my phone, I can connect to the internet at any time, with no extra charge for how much I'm on. I can check my email and Facebook and visit most websites (my phone has issues with Flash, so that is prohibitive for some websites), and most of all, it means I'm constantly connected to Twitter. I'm pretty active on there, whether it's tweeting my own messages or responding to others or just reading others' tweets.

There are times when Twitter is having problems, and that means Twitter is unavailable, sometimes for hours, or possibly, even a day. And during those times, I'm lost. I use Twitter to keep in touch during the day with a number of friends, so when the service is down, I can't tell them what I'm doing or know what they're up to.

Now, of course, there are other methods of keeping in touch, but there is a certain quality and feel to the information that we exchange on Twitter. Sure, we have other methods of communicating that we use also, but there is a special flavor to what we post and say on Twitter that is hard to duplicate in other ways.

Previously, I wasn't as accessible to my friends and vice versa, but with cel phones and texting and Twitter and all such things, I'm just used to being more connected to my friends, and it's disconcerting when that lifeline is interrupted.

Does that make me addicted?