[LINK] Are you an ego-surfer?

[Adam Todd]

Cheesepodder and photolurkers be warned: we're on to you

December 20, 2006 - 6:50AM


The Internet has given birth to a quirky range of modern addictions and 
maladies, the British weekly New Scientist says in its Christmas issue 
published this Saturday.

They include these:

EGO-SURFING: When you frequently check your name and reputation on the 
internet.

BLOG STREAKING: "Revealing secrets or personal information online which for 
everybody's sake would be best kept private."

CRACKBERRY: "The curse of the modern executive: not being able to stop 
checking your BlackBerry, even at your grandmother's funeral." (A 
BlackBerry is a popular handheld device that can be used for phoning, 
emailing and web-browsing).

GOOGLE-STALKING: Defined as "snooping online on old friends, colleagues or 
first dates."

CYBERCHONDRIA: "A headache and a particular rash at the same time? 
Extensive online research tells you it must be cancer."

PHOTOLURKING: Flicking through a photo album of someone you've never met.

WIKIPEDIHOLISM: Excess devotion to contributing to the online collaborative 
encyclopaedia, Wikipedia. (Wikipedia even has a page where you can test 
whether you're an addict: 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Are-You-a-Wikipediholic-Test)).

CHEESEPODDING: Downloading of a song "so cheesy that you could cover it in 
plastic wrap and sell it at the deli counter." Cheesepodders are especially 
vulnerable to soft-rock favourites from the 1970s.

AFP