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This essay could also be called, "Life in the 80s (and early 90s) for most people." Back then, you had to be relatively informed to have access to "social medi

This essay could also be called, "Life in the 80s (and early 90s) for most people." Back then, you had to be relatively informed to have access to "social media" (i.e. Usenet, gopher, BBS). It's amazing how much productivity has been disrupted by social media. There are of course huge upsides as well, but sometimes I wonder if the full downside is recognized. A lot of people I know do very little work in the workplace, as they spend all day on Twitter and Facebook. They get around IT bans by using their smartphones... sometimes I wonder if the only thing running corporations these days is automated software.

dhughes 14y ago
I was a news hound in the 80s which was great because TV news didn't suck. Another 80s early 90s information device was the magazine, there were tons of magazines which were mostly killed off by the Internet. Social media is a whole lot of everything and 1% substance on a good day. It's a habit it's like Entertainment Tonight you sit there and one day think "why am I watching this?". That actually happened to me in the late 80s I realized I had a half smile grin Joker sort of thing watching banal celebrity news. These days instead of a dumb smile it's my left elbow with osteoarthritis from leaning on it reading about cats, rage faces and other memes or arguing with strangers over things 5000km away.
- timc3 14y ago
  It did suck, you just didn't have nothing to compare it to.
- toemetoch 14y ago
  Ditched my TV last week and have been cutting back on my internet habit when I'm home for a while now. I suddenly have hours of free time every evening and I'm re-discovering magazines. But you're right, lots of them have been under pressure or have disappeared. One thing I found out about myself is that internet made me lazy. These days I find it easier to read short articles - online articles used to get bookmarked and never read. I'm also trying harder to work on stuff without the net. I'm in electronics/embedded and I used to click around for every little thing. Now I sit down with pencil & paper again until I crack it by hand.
- jaems33 14y ago
  TV news still doesn't suck. Reuters, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Guardian, BBC, CBC, France24, AP... there's a plethora of choices online.
yuhong 14y ago
Of course, if these people really like it, there are social media evangelist jobs.

dhughes 14y ago

I was a news hound in the 80s which was great because TV news didn't suck. Another 80s early 90s information device was the magazine, there were tons of magazines which were mostly killed off by the Internet. Social media is a whole lot of everything and 1% substance on a good day. It's a habit it's like Entertainment Tonight you sit there and one day think "why am I watching this?". That actually happened to me in the late 80s I realized I had a half smile grin Joker sort of thing watching banal celebrity news. These days instead of a dumb smile it's my left elbow with osteoarthritis from leaning on it reading about cats, rage faces and other memes or arguing with strangers over things 5000km away.

timc3 14y ago
It did suck, you just didn't have nothing to compare it to.
toemetoch 14y ago
Ditched my TV last week and have been cutting back on my internet habit when I'm home for a while now. I suddenly have hours of free time every evening and I'm re-discovering magazines. But you're right, lots of them have been under pressure or have disappeared. One thing I found out about myself is that internet made me lazy. These days I find it easier to read short articles - online articles used to get bookmarked and never read. I'm also trying harder to work on stuff without the net. I'm in electronics/embedded and I used to click around for every little thing. Now I sit down with pencil & paper again until I crack it by hand.
jaems33 14y ago
TV news still doesn't suck. Reuters, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Guardian, BBC, CBC, France24, AP... there's a plethora of choices online.

yuhong 14y ago

Of course, if these people really like it, there are social media evangelist jobs.