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As the online world socially envelopes our subjective view of reality, is anyone else who grew up predominantly online simply dropping out? I've been spending m

As the online world socially envelopes our subjective view of reality, is anyone else who grew up predominantly online simply dropping out? I've been spending more time on my meatspace hobbies, watching TV and movies, and generally avoiding interactions with the internet outside of work. I feel better for it and like I had been wasting so much time before on internet arguments and getting dopamine-hits from outrage based media experiences.

danielvaughn 5y ago
If I were a betting man, I'd bet that some upcoming generation (maybe the one after Gen Z but who knows) will turn away from the digital world.
bttf 5y ago
I experienced a similar transition, albeit this was over 10 years ago. I've come to realize that a balance between both meatspace and hyperspace ends up being most satisfying. For me, the former was very valuable in introducing new experiences (learning and playing music, construction projects, hobbies like hiking and surfing), but the lack of cognitive and 'online' stimulation will make itself apparent over time.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Yes, but I'm not entirely sure it is related. The reason I think I've taken up more real-world hobbies and moved farther away from online stuff is that it seems like everything online these days is trying to sell me something. If not a product, then a scam, or FOMO about some new fad, or the latest conspiracy theory, or outrage about some thing or another. I don't think it used to be this way, it used to be a place I could go to hang out with people who had similar interests and talk about them. Theoretically that's what this place is and it still seems like people are trying to sell me shit all the time (mostly blockchain nonsense, web frameworks, and cloud services). Has it gone this way because of the ever-increasing monetization of it? I'm inclined to think so, but it's also possible it's just the natural result of becoming more widely used. Tragedy of the commons and all that.
handrous 5y ago
"Elder millennial" checking in. I'd not have any Internet service at home, including on cell phones, if not for a few things that require it—even if I didn't work from home, my spouse's job (teacher) requires home Internet these day (even pre-pandemic), and it's practically required for kids in k-12 school now, too. If not for external pressure to have it, I'd not find it worth ~$1,000/yr for home Internet and ~$400/yr for my cell phone's Internet service. That's a hell of a lot of entertainment money to put toward something else, and that's before you pay for anything on top of it (say, streaming services). In fact, it'd almost be worth paying that much to get my wasted Internet time back (he writes, on HN). In my teens I couldn't wait to jack straight in to the 'net. Now? Screw it. I'd rather live entirely in meatspace. I think the whole thing's been, overall, a mistake that I wish we could obliterate.
Kye 5y ago
I've started getting back into reading stuff in an RSS reader, listening to podcasts, running a blog, avoiding any interactive space where things move too fast (like Twitter). This is about where I was around 2008-2014, after the internet went mainstream and before I had a smartphone. Interactions were more energizing than distressing back then. But I'm also keenly aware things will change, so I see this as a foundation rather than a place to stay. You can't just stay fixed in place and expect to have any input on the future. I've been back on Mastodon more since it has a lot of the good parts of past Twitter with less of the bad. I wrote an article that did numbers here called "ActivityPub could be the future." I pulled it since I got a bit cynical about the whole thing, but I might use it as the basis for something new.

danielvaughn 5y ago

If I were a betting man, I'd bet that some upcoming generation (maybe the one after Gen Z but who knows) will turn away from the digital world.

bttf 5y ago

I experienced a similar transition, albeit this was over 10 years ago. I've come to realize that a balance between both meatspace and hyperspace ends up being most satisfying. For me, the former was very valuable in introducing new experiences (learning and playing music, construction projects, hobbies like hiking and surfing), but the lack of cognitive and 'online' stimulation will make itself apparent over time.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago

Yes, but I'm not entirely sure it is related. The reason I think I've taken up more real-world hobbies and moved farther away from online stuff is that it seems like everything online these days is trying to sell me something. If not a product, then a scam, or FOMO about some new fad, or the latest conspiracy theory, or outrage about some thing or another. I don't think it used to be this way, it used to be a place I could go to hang out with people who had similar interests and talk about them. Theoretically that's what this place is and it still seems like people are trying to sell me shit all the time (mostly blockchain nonsense, web frameworks, and cloud services). Has it gone this way because of the ever-increasing monetization of it? I'm inclined to think so, but it's also possible it's just the natural result of becoming more widely used. Tragedy of the commons and all that.

handrous 5y ago

"Elder millennial" checking in. I'd not have any Internet service at home, including on cell phones, if not for a few things that require it—even if I didn't work from home, my spouse's job (teacher) requires home Internet these day (even pre-pandemic), and it's practically required for kids in k-12 school now, too. If not for external pressure to have it, I'd not find it worth ~$1,000/yr for home Internet and ~$400/yr for my cell phone's Internet service. That's a hell of a lot of entertainment money to put toward something else, and that's before you pay for anything on top of it (say, streaming services). In fact, it'd almost be worth paying that much to get my wasted Internet time back (he writes, on HN). In my teens I couldn't wait to jack straight in to the 'net. Now? Screw it. I'd rather live entirely in meatspace. I think the whole thing's been, overall, a mistake that I wish we could obliterate.

Kye 5y ago

I've started getting back into reading stuff in an RSS reader, listening to podcasts, running a blog, avoiding any interactive space where things move too fast (like Twitter). This is about where I was around 2008-2014, after the internet went mainstream and before I had a smartphone. Interactions were more energizing than distressing back then. But I'm also keenly aware things will change, so I see this as a foundation rather than a place to stay. You can't just stay fixed in place and expect to have any input on the future. I've been back on Mastodon more since it has a lot of the good parts of past Twitter with less of the bad. I wrote an article that did numbers here called "ActivityPub could be the future." I pulled it since I got a bit cynical about the whole thing, but I might use it as the basis for something new.