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I think everyone is addicted, or dependent, and most don't even know it. So they are going to say its an improvement because they simply can't face the prospect of life without it. My goodness, the sheer horror of having to sit down and write a letter instead of push a button. Many people couldn't deal with such barbarism.
There is no reason to have to deal with such barbarism! I am happy to live in the modern World.
There is an addiction, I am dependent on it. I am okay with that!
Within an hour or so, I got to see what my cousins are up to. Sent an email to my son's gf to get some help on my finishing touches on my new bathroom. Communicated with my hair stylist, decided on a recipe for dinner. Caught up on my work email and personal email. Ordered a new dress for a wedding I am attended in the Fall. Scheduled my oil change. Figured out a plan for the new quilt I am working on.
I work from home and am dependent on internet. But I would happily keep on surviving if the Internet went down tomorrow.
It's addictive, it crowds out books and physical activities and real relationships and it has turned me against friends (political arguments on Facebook, etc.).
In fact my childhood friend that I was buddies with since 5th grade basically has nothing to do with me anymore, after many emailed arguments about the environment etc. It was my own fault but the internet makes it too easy to get into these kinds of bitter yet pointless debates.
Internet kind of sucks, actually. I sometimes think about just turning it off entirely. But I do have to keep working... for now....
Yeah, I was born before the internet (but not that far before the most primitive form of it though that was before it was widely available). I was the kid who read everything, including the cereal box at breakfast since my parents wouldn't let me bring a book to the table. And of course I read the dictionary and encyclopedia - so when the internet came along that was 100000x better!
My small town library had next to nothing...when I got to college that was better, but still can't compare to having the world at your fingertips. As long as you have some critical thinking skills and can judge the quality of the information you're getting, you can find almost anything you need. I could never go back and hope I'll never have to.
As for social media - a total brain and time suck and I couldn't care less.
Yeah, I was born before the internet (but not that far before the most primitive form of it though that was before it was widely available). I was the kid who read everything, including the cereal box at breakfast since my parents wouldn't let me bring a book to the table. And of course I read the dictionary and encyclopedia - so when the internet came along that was 100000x better!
My small town library had next to nothing...when I got to college that was better, but still can't compare to having the world at your fingertips. As long as you have some critical thinking skills and can judge the quality of the information you're getting, you can find almost anything you need. I could never go back and hope I'll never have to.
As for social media - a total brain and time suck and I couldn't care less.
Agree. I don't give much time to "social media" other than a few focused interest groups that exist to share useful information. The general chit chat gossipy types don't interest me. If I want to "talk" to someone I do. No addiction problems with the web. Some of it is now necessity, some of it is habit. Anyone can choose to break a habit. I love the ability to learn about millions of topics whenever I wish; see and hear new things, expose the mind to new ideas. What does surprise me is how many people who can access it don't. Sure, you have to learn how to be discerning, but learning to evaluate information is part of adult life. A book can be just as deceptive as a website. I started in my profession long before the web. Comparing what it took to accomplish things before and after...well, there is no comparison. Is it all good? Of course not. No invention ever is.
Last edited by Parnassia; 05-13-2020 at 02:39 PM..
The social media stuff, could care less. My attraction was having in effect, a vast library at home. Being able to research stuff without special trips to a large regional library. Also being able to track down oddball parts for stuff not available local or at high "special order" price.
I dont appreciate the ads and tracking. I block all that I can, but no way to really avoid it altogether. Even if I didnt have internet, the businesses I have to deal with do and keep data bases on my buying activity.
I was born in 79, and I did not have an internet capable computer in my home until 1999 or 2000 ish. The internet then was a pretty rudimentary thing, besides. I would play free games and talk to people on ICQ.
I did not get a cell phone until about 2004, and it was a number of years after that, before I got a smart one. 2008-2009 or so.
I definitely remember a time that was before the internet had any meaningful foothold in my life.
I thing it's far better to have it, than not to have it, although I'm pretty unhappy about some of the social manipulations and the pushing of people towards extremes, dehumanizing others when we encounter them only as an abstract headline or anecdote online, and not face-to-face as a human being. Sure, there's bad stuff that one can point to the internet as the cause of.
But I love having instant answers to a thousand trivial questions. Google maps on my phone in case I get lost. The ability to work from home during a public health crisis. The flexibility of streaming TV and music. The ability to do detailed research before buying things to make sure I'm making the right choice. Online banking and billpay, tax filing and car registration renewals. Amazon and other online retailers where I can get things that I likely would never have found if all I could buy was what local stores offered.
I still read books, play physical board games, and do jigsaw puzzles. No one is stopping me from doing those things.
I think that a lot of "the internet"...you have a lot of control over your experience on it. I used to have a pretty serious World of Warcraft habit (some 10 years ago) but as soon as I realized that it no longer really felt like fun to play, I stopped. If someone consistently annoys me on social media, I unfriend them. Odds are we weren't close friends anyways, I've found. Because my good true friends tend to be people who think like me, who are not belligerent or adversarial for its own sake. I'm losing nothing when I cut these bozos loose. I use social media for cat videos, funny things, updates on the travels of my more adventurous friends, and to read the clever writings of my literary ones. To hear about concerts and events (when we're not having a pandemic, anyways.)
So when people complain about how awful social media is...I'm confused. How hard is it to drop the people who seem to be there just to ruin your day? Why not control your own experience more? And if you feel like you'd have no friends left if you did that, then maybe YOU are the muck-raker and you're only getting what you deserve, I don't know. If you are doing something, and you're having a bad time and it's stressing you out...why keep doing that thing? Why not stop?
And if you are just fine with a certain level of disengagement from the internet, but you've stepped in here to make sure we all know that it's those OTHER people, who are the problem, those more connected, social media obsessed, selfie taking whipper snappers or something... You just want a platform to be judgmental to strangers? Why?
none of your poll options work for me. Actually, they don't make sense with the thread title or poll question.
thread title: Overall were you better w/out the internet?
Poll: Your opinion of the internet overall?
Yes, I'm in need of it daily
No, I'd be fine if I never used it
I was born before it, so it matters not to me
Undecided either way
The internet is a valuable tool. I don't have to dig through a pile of books for information, or mail a letter and wait a week for it to arrive, or even have to find maps for every place I want to travel. I can pay my bills online and they don't get lost in somebody's office (yup, happened).
But I can spend a day or so without it, at the beach or taking a hike or reading a book.
I sure was smarter.............could spout off almost anything without the internet proving me wrong!
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