Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to stop being “terminally online”

nights.bearblog.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 238 posts

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#21

Post by cousin_it »

I think the internet has accelerated the evolution of "mind viruses". New arguments and rhetorical tricks arise and mutate very fast. If you jump off it, that'll be good for you, but when you get back on after a long time, you might have no "immune defense" against what the internet came up with in the meantime. Similar to how the USSR was outside Western cultural evolution for awhile, and when it broke up in the 90s, people turned out very vulnerable to colorful ads, bubblegum and Ponzi schemes.

Maybe the fear of such "falling off the wagon" is part of what keeps us on the internet. We don't want to lose the world's thread of conversation, because in the end one way or another it will affect us anyway. It's like not coming to the forum where future laws are decided.

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#22

Post by jayceedenton »

ElemenoPicuares wrote: post #3

I hate to throw a purely negative comment up as a naked response to a post, but this is really just a contemptful screed about people engaging in online interactions the author doesn't jibe with. It's not even like they're presenting their opinion to elicit other perspectives-- it's presented as an objective list of unhealthy habits and patronizing instructions to align your behavior with the author's values and prio…

What does 'objective' even mean in this context? This is a post about what the author believes is healthy and positive for individuals and society.

I don't see anywhere where contempt is shown, in fact quite the opposite. The post is written in a very empathetic way in my opinion, and I think displays a good level of insight into, and understanding of, the attractiveness of things that can do harm.

I'd challenge you to entertain the idea that this post has some good advice, and follow some of it. I have no data, but I expect you'll be happier as a result.

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#24

Post by blfr »

It's a good guide but it only addresses fairly vacuous and not that great online activities.

My Twitter feed is a collection of funniest, most deranged takes on any subject. People IRL have no chance to compete, no one can outdo the best two seconds of 800 people.

Same with HN. Conversations like these are rarely happening offline.

And then there are communities I sunk into. Private forums I have been a member of for nearly a decade. I know the in-jokes, we follow the stories of more interesting (chaotic) posters, there's even some real emotional investment.

All of that reachable fully asynchronously. Went to the gym alone? Read between the sets. Waiting for something? It's right there on your phone. Sadly, also, someone being boring... well, better stuff is in your pocket.

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#25

Post by iasay »

silisili wrote: post #2

One thing I've noticed about 'terminal online' is that people vastly underestimate how much it affects them. Myself included. It seems if I ever call out a loved one, whether my brother or wife or friend, for being on their phone too much, they immediately get defensive and argue they were just doing some one task. Even if this was initiated after them being zoned out for an hour or longer. And I've done the same whe…

My ex wife is an ex wife because she zoned out into Facebook constantly and stopped doing anything with the family. Then she went bananas and ran away with someone who ironically she split up with because he was always on Facebook. It can go pretty bad.

I’m super happy though as the kids stayed with me :)

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#27

Post by tppiotrowski »

I try to write down what I'm about to use the internet for before I open the web browser. This way I can glance and see if I've gotten distracted and try to get back on task. This works wonders when trying to list something on FB Marketplace. In the past I would be three posts deep in my feed before snapping out of it and remembering why I opened FB in the first place. I can see why the feed was such a game changer for FB. Before you can use FB for anything you will be forced to glance at the feed :(

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#28

Post by swiftcoder »

blfr wrote: post #24

It's a good guide but it only addresses fairly vacuous and not that great online activities. My Twitter feed is a collection of funniest, most deranged takes on any subject. People IRL have no chance to compete, no one can outdo the best two seconds of 800 people. Same with HN. Conversations like these are rarely happening offline. And then there are communities I sunk into. Private forums I have been a member of for…

> Same with HN. Conversations like these are rarely happening offline.

May I suggest that you might be looking in the wrong places offline?

HN-style discussions are a staple of lunchtime banter at any number of tech firms. Likewise you can find similar discussions at any number of universities, or on the tech conference circuit. Not to mention your local nerd-leaning special-interest communities (be it tabletop, D&D, hacker space, BDSM, etc).

The internet makes it really easy to find a community of folks who share similar interests, all without leaving your house. But unless you live in the middle of nowhere, one can generally find such a community IRL

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#29

Post by blfr »

swiftcoder wrote: post #28
blfr wrote: post #24

It's a good guide but it only addresses fairly vacuous and not that great online activities. My Twitter feed is a collection of funniest, most deranged takes on any subject. People IRL have no chance to compete, no one can outdo the best two seconds of 800 people. Same with HN. Conversations like these are rarely happening offline. And then there are communities I sunk into. Private forums I have been a member of for…

> Same with HN. Conversations like these are rarely happening offline. May I suggest that you might be looking in the wrong places offline? HN-style discussions are a staple of lunchtime banter at any number of tech firms. Likewise you can find similar discussions at any number of universities, or on the tech conference circuit. Not to mention your local nerd-leaning special-interest communities (be it tabletop, D&D,…

The lunchtime banter at my (tech) company is mostly silence since few people come to the office.
Post reply on HN