Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.netMaybe you’ve thought about it. Maybe you’ve even tried it. But with the internet as such a part of our lives, it’s difficult to think of a life without it. Well, I’m tempted, to unplug, simply to know what it feels like. Now, this last week you may have noticed a void of blog posts, and that was because I tried to at least unplug a little. I avoided Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and the blog. I posted only to promote the shows, and other then that, I did things outside of the internet. I continued reading a book, I watched a movie, and I played video games, all off line. There was no internet attached to any of that whatsoever. I realized, I had a LOT of free time, and I also realized how much I missed trolling the webs.
Just a brief history of myself and my relationship with the internet. If you don’t listen to the podcasts, I may have mentioned my introduction to the internet. I found it back in 1994 with a program called Prodigy. It was really contained, with no real search engine, and the only things to do on the internet was look at porn and play games. Yes, I discovered porn early on the web, though maybe not as early as 1994, but I do remember it being out there in it’s infancy. And yes, I know that the internet existed before 1994 and I know that it’s purpose was not for some teenaged boy just to play games and look at nudie pictures. That really wasn’t what kept me going back every day and racking up hundreds of dollars in internet fees. Yeah, companies charged per HOUR of internet use at speeds that would make you want to vomit.
I truly discovered the addictive nature of the web when I went in to try and solve a problem for my father. He was having internet issues, and he asked me to go online and find the solution. I was intrigued and my first thought was to go to the chat rooms and see if I couldn’t find myself some tech support. Well I did, the problem was solved, and I was hooked. I found more Prodigy chat rooms, befriended a plethora of internet friends, and even had long distance relationships with them before it was even popular.
So I’ve been playing around with the world wide web for over 16 years and was hooked ever since. I think I spent around the same amount of time online as I do offline. But can you remember a time when the net didn’t even exist? Can you remember a time when the word Yahoo simply stood for someone exclaiming excitement? Google, Facebook, Youtube, and memes weren’t even invented yet! We actually went outside to play! In order to keep up with friends we actually had to meet somewhere or…*gasp*…talk on the phone! (Hey, there’s some of that sincere sarcasm I keep blabbing on about!)
Therefore, I challenge you, as well as myself, to this one thing. Take a day off from the internet, and I mean anything that involves the web. Now of course, most jobs require it, so you’ll have to do it on a weekend. But spend one Saturday or one Sunday where you don’t access Facebook, update your status, check in, or look at your e-mail. Just do something. It can be ANYTHING, and see how you feel? This would be exceptionally weird for those who are younger and can’t imagine a world that didn’t have the internet. But if you’re older and actually know what it’s like to use a phone book, call 411 and actually play board/card games in order to experience “multiplayer”, this may not be so hard. Or maybe, you’ll be like me, and even the BRIEF and INCOMPLETE denial of the online world led to withdrawal symptoms. But if you’re game, so am I. What are your thoughts and will you take me up on this challenge because I’ll certainly try a day, and maybe someday, a week of no internet. That’ll be interesting…
