6 ms·

I cut out social media about 10 months ago. News and that's about it. I tend to be alone still in rooms with other humans physically present. They're busy talki

I cut out social media about 10 months ago. News and that's about it. I tend to be alone still in rooms with other humans physically present. They're busy talking to others virtually. It's shocking how few people actually look up anymore.

justahuman74 2y ago
I found that nothing in the news was really actionable for me, so I cut it out
- owl57 2y ago
  > nothing in the news was really actionable for me A month ago, I was reading the news of my country of birth to decide if it looks stable enough to go there and then get out without surprises at the border. Two months ago, I was reading the news of my country of residence to choose when to go to the shower, trying to avoid running to the shelter naked. Hell, I might consider relocation to your country.
  - dotnet00 2y ago
    I mean, it's obviously different if you're somewhere that the news has directly actionable info. Just like how someone who doesn't otherwise care about the news will probably keep track of weather news during storm season in their area.
purple-leafy 2y ago
Same here, I only have hackernews. Everyone on public transport is heads glued to screens. Sad. Same with the beaches
wkat4242 2y ago
Are those actual friends or just random people in eg a waiting room or public transport? If so, expect that they use the smartphone not only to entertain themselves but also to signal to you that they're not interested in talking. Before the smartphone this role was taken up by the Walkman. Before that the newspaper. It's not really a tech issue. It's a human thing.
- dotnet00 2y ago
  Exactly, the majority of the strangers that end up talking to me turn out to be total weirdos. Apparently something about the way I carry myself seems to paint me as a target. So, I've taken to wearing earphones to signal I'm not interested in talking, sometimes I'm not even actually listening to anything, most of the time the volume is low enough that I can hear everything just fine. I'll even intentionally pull my phone out and try to look like I'm doing something on it to signal my disinterest. On the other hand, if I see someone I wouldn't mind speaking to, like if someone looks like they have a question, they need help or if they are wearing/doing something interesting, I won't do any of that and may strike up a conversation myself. This idea reminds me of that meme template of the guy standing in a corner at a party thinking "they don't know that I..." while everyone else is busy enjoying themselves. Pre-smartphone I'd probably be using an mp3 player or playing on a handhold console and always carrying a book to read (or appear to read). The examples of public transport are especially odd, the very purpose of being on transport is that you would rather be somewhere else, why would they interact with strangers? I remember the pre-smartphone world, people still didn't regularly engage in casual conversation with strangers on public transport, they read, listened to mp3 players, played on handheld consoles, or most often, just napped.

justahuman74 2y ago

I found that nothing in the news was really actionable for me, so I cut it out

owl57 2y ago
> nothing in the news was really actionable for me A month ago, I was reading the news of my country of birth to decide if it looks stable enough to go there and then get out without surprises at the border. Two months ago, I was reading the news of my country of residence to choose when to go to the shower, trying to avoid running to the shelter naked. Hell, I might consider relocation to your country.
- dotnet00 2y ago
  I mean, it's obviously different if you're somewhere that the news has directly actionable info. Just like how someone who doesn't otherwise care about the news will probably keep track of weather news during storm season in their area.

purple-leafy 2y ago

Same here, I only have hackernews. Everyone on public transport is heads glued to screens. Sad. Same with the beaches

wkat4242 2y ago

Are those actual friends or just random people in eg a waiting room or public transport? If so, expect that they use the smartphone not only to entertain themselves but also to signal to you that they're not interested in talking. Before the smartphone this role was taken up by the Walkman. Before that the newspaper. It's not really a tech issue. It's a human thing.

dotnet00 2y ago
Exactly, the majority of the strangers that end up talking to me turn out to be total weirdos. Apparently something about the way I carry myself seems to paint me as a target. So, I've taken to wearing earphones to signal I'm not interested in talking, sometimes I'm not even actually listening to anything, most of the time the volume is low enough that I can hear everything just fine. I'll even intentionally pull my phone out and try to look like I'm doing something on it to signal my disinterest. On the other hand, if I see someone I wouldn't mind speaking to, like if someone looks like they have a question, they need help or if they are wearing/doing something interesting, I won't do any of that and may strike up a conversation myself. This idea reminds me of that meme template of the guy standing in a corner at a party thinking "they don't know that I..." while everyone else is busy enjoying themselves. Pre-smartphone I'd probably be using an mp3 player or playing on a handhold console and always carrying a book to read (or appear to read). The examples of public transport are especially odd, the very purpose of being on transport is that you would rather be somewhere else, why would they interact with strangers? I remember the pre-smartphone world, people still didn't regularly engage in casual conversation with strangers on public transport, they read, listened to mp3 players, played on handheld consoles, or most often, just napped.