I need to get all these thoughts out of my head, sometimes there are so many thoughts at once that I end up switching them off by playing some brain numbing game!
So many of us do this these days, rather than face the world head on and tackle that mirage of voices we run away into the internet, we hide from life, we turn into a someone who wastes away our life scrolling through social media boards, playing thought numbing games, watching videos, anything to distract ourselves from the horrors the world keeps showing us! I am as guilty of this as anyone, I've spent week, months even years avoiding living!
I came onto the internet of things way back, near it's beginning, I purchased the very first internet ready desk top computer, it opened my world up, back then there wasn't zillions of tons of information, it was quite limit but it was wonderful to those of us that loved to expand our worlds.
We didn't dream back then it would become a weapon to be used against us! The first internet years were gentle, fun and exciting! We paid for the privilege back then, paid per minute with companies that charged you the same rate as phone calls, on the plus side that did ensure we didn't spend too long online!
when AOL arrived the cost was dropped to 1p per minute. for a mere 60 pence you could go explore a whole new world, talk to people in chat rooms on the other side of the world, it was down right amazing, we'd gone from expensive phone calls to our friends & relatives maybe only when there was an emergency or a celebration, to being able to chat and get to really know our families anytime we were both awake at the same time.
We could watch news streams, play music videos, play games, read forums on subjects that interested you, go to a chat room and have a conversation not just an emoji response! (do you remember those things called conversations?!)
The internet grew, then subscriptions came into play, in place of a cost per minute you could pay for unlimited usage for a month for a mere £15.99, I think that's about the time my social life started to die and my online life took over!
The more the internet grew, the more distractions were placed online, youtube where you can spend hours watching any subject you can more or less think of but mostly we end up watching other people who are actually doing something in stead of scrolling!
Our world's had become bigger yet smaller at the same time, when we came home from work we no longer had plans to visit a friend for a coffee, go out for drinks or a meal, we just logged on and drank coffee whilst talking to that friend, drank wine whilst talking to a group of friends or scrolled through recipes whilst eating a pre-prepared meal! We all stopped doing things, we became lazy because entertaining ourselves became easy!
Suddenly we realised (or maybe you didn't!) that in place of 3 or 4 nights a week going out somewhere to socialised or be entertained, you were down to 1 night or in many cases none!
We stopped going out to physically shop for items, when I was younger (yeah back when the dinosaurs roamed the planet) a few friends would always meet up to go shopping together, we'd make a day of it. We would laugh at it each other trying on clothes in shops we had absolutely no intention of buying from, we'd stop for coffee, breakfast or lunch and chat away. We aired our thoughts, our ideals, our problems, our wants, needs, we'd have conversations, laughter, tears and hugs, how I miss the way we all would hug each other often.
I bet you are as guilty as me for letting people drift away from your life though the distraction of the screen! I have spoken to so many people over the years, probably in the millions, people that now I have no idea where there are, what they are doing or how life is treating them, and we accept that now as normal!
We used to have core groups of like minded friends, people who's company we physically left our homes to spend time with, we loved them that much! Now we talk to any random person who puts up something we find interesting for a moment!
The internet helps you find people but it also helps you to lose the living breathing community you were once part of!
It was near the end of the 1990's when I was ill that the internet became my blessing and curse, I was stuck in bed for nearly a year, and for a year or so either side of that, either too sick to move much or recovering for major abdominal surgery!
In my state of boredom I used the internet to learn how to graphic design, then became a designer for a scrapbook company. I spent my whole day either on forums chatting to other scrapbookers, making up challenges to keep them entertained and distracted or I was sitting at the pc designing digital graphics.
Footnote: I've just realised that I first logged onto the internet in 1993, that means next year (2023) I will have been online for 30 years! I need to get a life!
I am so glad that we met (virtually) so long ago. I agree with you my dear friend. The internet has taken over our lives and we need to wean ourselves from its grip. Much love xx
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DeleteI am so happy we met, you are such a gentle steading soul, I intend to time limit myself, I did it for a while back in Donegal, 1 hour in the morning to catch up on mail/facetime etc, then physically switch it off and go do something more interesting instead, will probably come back in the evening for a few hours of the same and blog about what I've been up to offline lol