This probably sounds familiar: You’re out to dinner with friends, and everything’s fun, until you get that itch. It’s been 20 minutes, and you really want to check Facebook, or Twitter, or Foursquare or email. Forget about wanting; this is needing. You finally give in to the urge and sneakily check your phone under the table — or fake an urgent visit to the bathroom, where you’ll take a hit of the Internet while huddling in a stall.Anecdotally, our Internet use seems to have spawned real addictions. And according to several recently released surveys, we’ve got it bad.More than half of Americans would rather give up chocolate, alcohol and caffeine for a week before parting temporarily with their phones, according to a recent survey by technology firm TeleNav.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/technology-addiction-chocolate-caffeine.html