Studies conducted by the Stanford Institute found that the more time people spend on the Internet, the less time they spend communicating with other people. In particular, 27 per cent of heavy Internet users report spending less time talking to friends and family over the phone. Fifteen per cent spend less time physically with friends and family, and 13 per cent spend less time attending events outside the house.

Psychologists say that spending long hours online, often to forge online relationships, may hurt face-to-face relationships and cause loneliness. And an increasing number of people are getting obsessively glued to the Net, at a great cost to their careers and social lives.

"It's easy to get hooked to the Net: there's always another link to follow, another new buddy to chat with, another discussion forum to visit. And before you know it, you have built a wall around yourself," says Payal Mehta, a marketing executive.

"The lonely, bored, depressed, introverted, people with low self-esteem, or those who have a history of addictions are most vulnerable to the Net," says Dr O P Agarwal, neurologist and practising surgeon. "These people need to fill the void that has been created by the dearth of real life relationships, so they turn to the Internet, just like someone would turn to drugs."

And the vicious circle continues, with addiction leading to more social insulation, and vice-versa. The effects are disastrous.

The Net posing a threat of social isolation is by itself a paradox, as it introduces its own means of communicating and interacting. Hundreds of people have fostered long-term relationships online, built social circles and support groups. But is this electronic socialising at the cost of real friends healthy? Apparently not.

"Ranging from mental delirium, false self-perception, clinical depression, mood swings when deprived of the daily online dose, bipolar disorder and an inability to handle people and group situations, social isolation can actually drive one crazy," says Dr V G Vatve, a psychiatrist.

However webaholics differ in their opinions. Milind Damle, 19, feels there is no difference between online and real life interaction. Sourab Gupta spends his evenings at The Havana, an online gaming junction, with his friends. "We don't usually discuss much, except our scores, but that's what we enjoy the most," he says. Ashutosh Rane uses his free Internet hours at night, to battle his unseen online gaming rivals. "I almost know them now," he says. "We play around three hours every night". He agrees that before he discovered online gaming, he would spend this spare time hanging out with his college pals. But these compulsive gamers all agree that this habit has not affected their social lives or studies.

Interaction between colleagues in offices has been minimised to instant messaging. "Even those sitting at adjacent desks will message each other, and not talk. It's killing the social life," complains Vikash Shangari, who works with an ISP. "My boss prefers to instruct me over the messenger; no more meetings, discussions; we use Netmeeting instead," says Renu Gupta, project leader at an MNC. "Yes, it saves time, but there isn't much team bonding anymore," she adds. "IMs are more convenient than using the intercom to talk to my colleague, but you lose the personal touch. Eventually you get addicted, and the familiarity with colleagues fades to an online emoticon," says Rohit Malhotra, a business development manager.

Even kids go online to satisfy their curiosity, rather than talk to parents or teachers, these days. Jagdish Yadav, an architect, claims that his kids prefer to look online for answers to questions, rather than approach their parents. Tushar Shah, eight, says he finds his queries better satisfied online as his parents are generally "busy with their own work". His parents complain that he "barely talks to us now".

Although the phenomenon of social isolation due to the Net has not hit India too hard, countries with widespread broadband access, like the United States and South Korea, are badly hit. Adolescents there have almost given up talking to friends, and live an imaginary social life, causing great concern to parents.

So if you've been sitting in front of a computer, clicking away the hours, go out and get a life.

Precautions:

1. Maintain a healthy friend-circle offline and meet them regularly, to take care of your emotional needs.
   
   
2. Do not chat with friends online if you can talk over phone or in person.
   
   
3. Never give out any personal information about yourself, or your pictures online.
   
   
4. Set an absolute time limit for Internet time.
   
   
5. Place self-imposed computer "blocks" on certain types of services (messengers, games, and discussion forums).
   
   
6. Never sign on to the Net at work (unless this is required for your job). Talk to your colleagues instead.
   
   
7. Realise that the virtual world is just that: virtual. Beware of the dangers of overindulgence and discipline yourself.