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Truth. In the 90's, if you went to a party and sat in a corner reading a book, it was usually....odd. The idea was that you were supposed to at least try to be

Truth. In the 90's, if you went to a party and sat in a corner reading a book, it was usually....odd. The idea was that you were supposed to at least try to be interacting with others. Some of us were geeks, some of us found social interaction difficult, but since there wasn't a real substitute for it, we had to stick it out and learn how to be with people. And then we got the benefits of being with people. Now there's always something else you can do at any moment. I feel like some younger folks I know (in their 20's) don't have the same capacity for understanding their place in the social universe. Social media / phones etc. give a simulacrum of social experience so you never have to really stretch yourself and grow these new skill sets.

usaphp 7y ago
I am sure there were as many people who did not like interacting with others as there are today, it's just because now its OK to be like that, you see them more often, back in the days they were just staying home because they felt uncomfortable by judgements of others.
wbl 7y ago
Usenet. Fandom. CW. I was born in 1991, and there has always been a technical subculture ever since Edison.
- coldtea 7y ago
  That doesn't mean it has always been as prevalent, accessible, dominant, acceptable, and so on...
TeMPOraL 7y ago
> Some of us were geeks, some of us found social interaction difficult, but since there wasn't a real substitute for it, we had to stick it out and learn how to be with people. And then we got the benefits of being with people. Or, we could just avoid being with people and play with tech instead. Many a geek kid, myself included, planted seeds for their future careers this way.
rleigh 7y ago
Yeah, there used to be a separation of geek stuff from social stuff. Pre- or early-internet era, computing and technical stuff was done in a room at home, or work, or a computing facility at a university. When you left that place, you still had to be sociable with the rest of the world, even if just a little bit. Most of the tech nerds I knew still had downtime and social lives. Today, people are glued to their devices and social interaction is minimal. It's like walking around a world filled with zombies. Frankly, it's getting weird, and I increasingly don't like it. I've recently been watching some of the old Friends episodes on Netflix, and looking at how they interact at home and outside: reading newspapers, playing cards, just chatting, etc. Reminds me a lot of me in that era as well. Too many people have lost the ability for simple social interaction, and every free moment is spent glued to a screen instead of using that time for... literally anything else: contemplation, idle conversation, looking around at the world, relaxing, doing a crossword, or whatever. Today, those friends would be sitting in silence all looking at small rectangles.
theamk 7y ago
> if you went to a party and sat in a corner reading a book, it was usually....odd Yes, because why would you go to the party for that? I have spent plenty of time in thne 90s skipping the super boring parties.

usaphp 7y ago

I am sure there were as many people who did not like interacting with others as there are today, it's just because now its OK to be like that, you see them more often, back in the days they were just staying home because they felt uncomfortable by judgements of others.

wbl 7y ago

Usenet. Fandom. CW. I was born in 1991, and there has always been a technical subculture ever since Edison.

coldtea 7y ago
That doesn't mean it has always been as prevalent, accessible, dominant, acceptable, and so on...

TeMPOraL 7y ago

> Some of us were geeks, some of us found social interaction difficult, but since there wasn't a real substitute for it, we had to stick it out and learn how to be with people. And then we got the benefits of being with people. Or, we could just avoid being with people and play with tech instead. Many a geek kid, myself included, planted seeds for their future careers this way.

rleigh 7y ago

Yeah, there used to be a separation of geek stuff from social stuff. Pre- or early-internet era, computing and technical stuff was done in a room at home, or work, or a computing facility at a university. When you left that place, you still had to be sociable with the rest of the world, even if just a little bit. Most of the tech nerds I knew still had downtime and social lives. Today, people are glued to their devices and social interaction is minimal. It's like walking around a world filled with zombies. Frankly, it's getting weird, and I increasingly don't like it. I've recently been watching some of the old Friends episodes on Netflix, and looking at how they interact at home and outside: reading newspapers, playing cards, just chatting, etc. Reminds me a lot of me in that era as well. Too many people have lost the ability for simple social interaction, and every free moment is spent glued to a screen instead of using that time for... literally anything else: contemplation, idle conversation, looking around at the world, relaxing, doing a crossword, or whatever. Today, those friends would be sitting in silence all looking at small rectangles.

theamk 7y ago

> if you went to a party and sat in a corner reading a book, it was usually....odd Yes, because why would you go to the party for that? I have spent plenty of time in thne 90s skipping the super boring parties.