What MAA and ITAA Are
Media Addicts Anonymous (MAA) and Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous (ITAA) are free peer-support groups. Members use the Twelve Steps and help one another stop compulsive media, internet and technology use.
You can join online meetings without paying. You can listen before you decide whether the group is right for you.
Which Group Should You Try?
MAA covers compulsive use of all media, including social media, streaming, games, news, music and books. ITAA covers compulsive internet and technology use, including phones, social media, streaming, games, online shopping and AI. The groups overlap. Try both and see where you feel understood.
What Happens in a Meeting?
Both groups offer online meetings. ITAA says most meetings are about one hour. A chair leads, members read short statements and people share. You do not have to speak. You can listen.
Meeting formats vary. Try more than one before you decide whether the group can help you.
Why Twelve-Step Meetings Can Help When Willpower Does Not
You already know willpower loses this fight — you've run that experiment. Addiction thrives in secrecy and isolation, and the fellowships attack exactly that: regular meetings give structure, the steps give a path, a sponsor gives you one person who knows the whole truth, and the community gives you somewhere to go instead of the screen.
If private rules keep failing, try a meeting and listen. You do not have to speak or decide anything before you arrive.
Try a MAA or ITAA Meeting Today
Pick a meeting from either fellowship's schedule, keep your camera off if you like, and just listen:
Not sure what kind of help you need? Answer twelve questions about your use, or see the full help directory.
Michael has spent much of his working life online—and much of the rest of it trying to stop that technology taking over. He has thrown a phone into a lake, locked devices in boxes and experimented with long periods offline. He writes about what helped, what failed and how to keep the useful parts of digital life.