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Ask HN: Do you know someone with no online presence? Are they really better off?

3 points by penaazv 3y ago

If this is too far-fetched, maybe just people who don't have any social media accounts. Who exist just IRL, not virtually.

PaulHoule 3y ago
My wife. Teaches people to ride horses. Grew her business by word of mouth. Takes cash and checks, no Venmo. Lines up rides mainly through a landline phone. (No cell service in our valley.) Nominally there is a domain name for the farm, but no real web site, she does do some business through email.
- penaazv 3y ago
  I love reading this. But I also feel like I'm reading an excerpt of a movie script or something! (Like a character introduction) Teaching horse-riding, and using a landline?! Damn. This is SO cool! Thank you for sharing :)
  - PaulHoule 3y ago
    I am a software dev and arguably even a mobile dev but I've never really owned a smartphone unless an Android Go Tracfone counts. I got that so I could receive a text to create an online account, I probably used about 10 minutes on it. I've collected an absurd number of crap Android devices (with the exception of the NVIDIA Shield I'd say they're all crap) but none of them have plans. I was really active in social media but deleted my Twitter, Facebook and such after the 2016 election (was already thinking it was bad.) I deleted my LinkedIn around the time I got a real job because LinkedIn was bringing a lot of spam, salespeople who couldn't sell and other hustlers that wasted my time into my life. I've been consistently active on HN for a decade+ but got most of my karma in the last 1.5 yrs, you might ask how and the answer is "with some help from my friend" https://mastodon.social/@UP8/110568695732952713 https://mastodon.social/@UP8/110568695732952713 I just got onto Mastodon, btw. Now I gotta get Pelican up and running so I can blog about YOShInOn and my other projects.
coldblues 3y ago
Looking at a lot of people involved in hacking, journalism, activism, and various illegal darknet operations, they all have a minimal online presence, at least one that spills from real life to the internet. But now those kinds of things kind of require minimal online presence, but I know plenty of people go low and earn a lot. Word of mouth is valued a lot more than advertising in a lot of circles.
- PaulHoule 3y ago
  If you're an activist you mostly have to choose between being publicly visible and doing things that are illegal. Now, one rider at our horse barn has organized a soup kitchen, been active in the anti-war movement, and got arrested for trespassing at a military base but she has spent time in federal prison. It is the same in the "hacker underground", if you ever admit that you have been involved in illegal activities online you are quite likely to get hacked right away. In fact it is a lot more likely you'll get that kind of "justice" than ever hear from the authorities.
motohagiography 3y ago
I know more than a few. They're guys over 35, upper middle wealthy, type-A personalities who see the internet as a news source, but social media and arguing with people online is something their wives and kids do. They don't work in tech, and made their money in real estate, trades, and then some finance guys. They have serious hobbies like woodworking, sailing, fly fishing, hunting, camping, cars and motorcycles, farming, horses, musicianship, etc. They're doing just fine. I see them at bbqs and pub nights. They're low on the neuroticism and agreeableness scales and don't engage internet culture. Men, basically.
- PaulHoule 3y ago
  https://theconversation.com/why-guys-who-post-a-lot-on-social-media-are-seen-as-less-manly-208732 https://theconversation.com/why-guys-who-post-a-lot-on-socia...
gravitate 3y ago
The Internet will not replace face-to-face IRL interaction. As humans, we are wired for connection. This is why many lonely people try to make up for their loneliness by being terminally online. It's only prosthetic connection though. (And when I say face-to-face I don't mean video calls).
gsatic 3y ago
Social media has made Attention a Currency (a store/signal of value, tradable for other stuff etc). People who can Capture Attention, are going to think its the greatest thing in the world, totally essential to their existense. But the bar is quite low. Even cats can capture attention. Which makes it a very unusual currency, with many bizzare properties, and effects on the people who use it and need it. But the good news is, its not the only currency. So anyone who has ways to accumulate any of the other currencies will do just fine. Like the cats.
- penaazv 3y ago
  This is a pretty interesting, rather unusual, and wise comment. Thank you :)

3 points by penaazv 3y ago

If this is too far-fetched, maybe just people who don't have any social media accounts. Who exist just IRL, not virtually.

PaulHoule 3y ago

My wife. Teaches people to ride horses. Grew her business by word of mouth. Takes cash and checks, no Venmo. Lines up rides mainly through a landline phone. (No cell service in our valley.) Nominally there is a domain name for the farm, but no real web site, she does do some business through email.

penaazv 3y ago
I love reading this. But I also feel like I'm reading an excerpt of a movie script or something! (Like a character introduction) Teaching horse-riding, and using a landline?! Damn. This is SO cool! Thank you for sharing :)
- PaulHoule 3y ago
  I am a software dev and arguably even a mobile dev but I've never really owned a smartphone unless an Android Go Tracfone counts. I got that so I could receive a text to create an online account, I probably used about 10 minutes on it. I've collected an absurd number of crap Android devices (with the exception of the NVIDIA Shield I'd say they're all crap) but none of them have plans. I was really active in social media but deleted my Twitter, Facebook and such after the 2016 election (was already thinking it was bad.) I deleted my LinkedIn around the time I got a real job because LinkedIn was bringing a lot of spam, salespeople who couldn't sell and other hustlers that wasted my time into my life. I've been consistently active on HN for a decade+ but got most of my karma in the last 1.5 yrs, you might ask how and the answer is "with some help from my friend" https://mastodon.social/@UP8/110568695732952713 https://mastodon.social/@UP8/110568695732952713 I just got onto Mastodon, btw. Now I gotta get Pelican up and running so I can blog about YOShInOn and my other projects.

coldblues 3y ago

Looking at a lot of people involved in hacking, journalism, activism, and various illegal darknet operations, they all have a minimal online presence, at least one that spills from real life to the internet. But now those kinds of things kind of require minimal online presence, but I know plenty of people go low and earn a lot. Word of mouth is valued a lot more than advertising in a lot of circles.

PaulHoule 3y ago
If you're an activist you mostly have to choose between being publicly visible and doing things that are illegal. Now, one rider at our horse barn has organized a soup kitchen, been active in the anti-war movement, and got arrested for trespassing at a military base but she has spent time in federal prison. It is the same in the "hacker underground", if you ever admit that you have been involved in illegal activities online you are quite likely to get hacked right away. In fact it is a lot more likely you'll get that kind of "justice" than ever hear from the authorities.

motohagiography 3y ago

I know more than a few. They're guys over 35, upper middle wealthy, type-A personalities who see the internet as a news source, but social media and arguing with people online is something their wives and kids do. They don't work in tech, and made their money in real estate, trades, and then some finance guys. They have serious hobbies like woodworking, sailing, fly fishing, hunting, camping, cars and motorcycles, farming, horses, musicianship, etc. They're doing just fine. I see them at bbqs and pub nights. They're low on the neuroticism and agreeableness scales and don't engage internet culture. Men, basically.

PaulHoule 3y ago
https://theconversation.com/why-guys-who-post-a-lot-on-social-media-are-seen-as-less-manly-208732 https://theconversation.com/why-guys-who-post-a-lot-on-socia...

gravitate 3y ago

The Internet will not replace face-to-face IRL interaction. As humans, we are wired for connection. This is why many lonely people try to make up for their loneliness by being terminally online. It's only prosthetic connection though. (And when I say face-to-face I don't mean video calls).

gsatic 3y ago

Social media has made Attention a Currency (a store/signal of value, tradable for other stuff etc). People who can Capture Attention, are going to think its the greatest thing in the world, totally essential to their existense. But the bar is quite low. Even cats can capture attention. Which makes it a very unusual currency, with many bizzare properties, and effects on the people who use it and need it. But the good news is, its not the only currency. So anyone who has ways to accumulate any of the other currencies will do just fine. Like the cats.

penaazv 3y ago
This is a pretty interesting, rather unusual, and wise comment. Thank you :)