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

51–60 of 238 posts

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#51

Post by FpUser »

timellis-smith wrote: post #6

Honestly, I'm an information addict. I'm online far too much mainly reading news etc. I think I've forgotten how I lived without a constant stream of information. I'm seriously tempted to get a dumb phone to remove temptation to browse when I have a few minutes to spare. The stupid thing is for all my reading, I don't feel any wiser or even knowledgeable. At the same time I think I'm less able to engage in normal con…

>"I think I've forgotten how I lived without a constant stream of information. I'm seriously tempted to get a dumb phone to remove temptation to browse when I have a few minutes to spare."

Up until few month ago my phone did not even have data plan. I ordered it now but purely for business needs. I use my phone strictly for phone calls and as GPS (I have offline maps). I use another phone to control gizmos like drone. For everything else I use PC and since I spend enough time doing various physical activities I consider my life balanced.

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#52

Post by Feritioyyyyy »

Aromasin wrote: post #48
iasay wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

I'm struggling with this currently. My partner spends 3+ hours a day scrolling Instagram (I know, I checked it in her Apple phone metrics). When we watch movies, it's me watching it and her scrolling. When we're in the car listening to music, it's just me listening to music and her scrolling. I'm starting to struggle initiating conversations because she's simply not paying attention. Whenever we're out, half her time…

Have you ever thought of making Instagram 'sliw' sometimes?

Might be unethical or it might help her to get away from it?

Perhaps talk to a therapist about how to approach it?

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#53

Post by iasay »

Aromasin wrote: post #48
iasay wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

I'm struggling with this currently. My partner spends 3+ hours a day scrolling Instagram (I know, I checked it in her Apple phone metrics). When we watch movies, it's me watching it and her scrolling. When we're in the car listening to music, it's just me listening to music and her scrolling. I'm starting to struggle initiating conversations because she's simply not paying attention. Whenever we're out, half her time…

Honestly looking back at my situation which paralleled yours, life’s not worth suffering through. Took 7 years to sort it out here which was a big chunk of my life. If you’re not happy, get out of the situation that makes you unhappy as soon as you can. The regrets hurt more than the relationship problems did.

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#54

Post by wruza »

rco8786 wrote: post #39

A lot of good questions to ask yourself here. But, > have you ever used/applied "internet slang" (cringe, based, cuck, chad) in/to real-life situations? I take slight issue with this one. To me, there is no difference between “internet slang” and just “slang”. The internet is ubiquitous and the language we use online and offline is largely the same now. Didn’t always be this way. I still remember the first time I hea…

Not only gone, I’ve heard internet and/or local imageboard slang from people who surely never visited the source of it. It feels strange to conceal your own subculture from those who speak it freely.

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#55

Post by dewclin »

Aromasin wrote: post #48
iasay wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

I'm struggling with this currently. My partner spends 3+ hours a day scrolling Instagram (I know, I checked it in her Apple phone metrics). When we watch movies, it's me watching it and her scrolling. When we're in the car listening to music, it's just me listening to music and her scrolling. I'm starting to struggle initiating conversations because she's simply not paying attention. Whenever we're out, half her time…

I'm sorry to read this, I also have a similar same situation with my father.

He's in his late 70's and a year ago bought himself an iPhone. He now spends ~4 hours a day reading a tabloid newspaper app, which has endless content. His attention span has fallen noticeably and he can't keep up with conversations that happen in the same room while he's "scrolling".

When I visit he's on his phone, and we go out for a walk (in the beautiful countryside around us) he stops and disengages when his app sends him the latest notification about what's happened on "love island", or some other nonsense. When I leave he's on his phone.

I tried to talk to him about it, and about how it's particularly effecting my mother, who I can see is lonely and lost a person she could talk to, important at their time of life. He just gets defensive and angry, which leads no-where.

Will he spend the most of the rest of his life looking at a screen?

Edit: wording of final sentence.

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#56

Post by eastbound »

innocentfelon4 wrote: post #11

Recently I was arrested and had all my electronics seized by the police. The whole experience was a wake-up call, not just in terms of being arrested but being without a computer or any way to get online for a couple of weeks. It really made me realize how 'addicted' I was to the internet, and going cold turkey was horrible, time slowed down and I was sure I was missing out on everything. But I read so much more and…

Did they give it back to you? How do you get information about a lawyer without computer or mobile phone???

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#57

Post by thrown_22 »

naillo wrote: post #43
rco8786 wrote: post #39

A lot of good questions to ask yourself here. But, > have you ever used/applied "internet slang" (cringe, based, cuck, chad) in/to real-life situations? I take slight issue with this one. To me, there is no difference between “internet slang” and just “slang”. The internet is ubiquitous and the language we use online and offline is largely the same now. Didn’t always be this way. I still remember the first time I hea…

There are actually a huge chunk of the population that just isn't very online, and genuinely don't know these terms. (Even many young people.) It was a real eye opener to meet some 'terminally offline' people and realize you can actually just escape and things are fine without being here constantly.

I can be online constantly and escape whatever the flavour of the month is. The only time it bites me in the ass is when I get banned for not being up to date on whatever everyone good and decent has to agree with to be good and decent.

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#58

Post by MerelyMortal »

t43562 wrote: post #46

Who really cares - 100 years ago you might as well have moaned about people living through books. We have to live and learn 2nd hand because: * Learning some things 1st hand has a high chance of being fatal * We cannot afford to live all possible lives but we do have to be able to understand each other and each other's motives to be able to get along - this means we have to imagine what it's like to be someone else.…

A lot of people seem to care: everyone upvoting, commenting, and even you taking the time to comment.

Internet-enabled pocket computers are vastly different than silent, dark, large, heavy, un-update-able, one-way, single-topic (more-or-less) sources of entertainment/distraction.

Re: How to stop being “terminally online”

#60

Post by crims0n »

timellis-smith wrote: post #6

Honestly, I'm an information addict. I'm online far too much mainly reading news etc. I think I've forgotten how I lived without a constant stream of information. I'm seriously tempted to get a dumb phone to remove temptation to browse when I have a few minutes to spare. The stupid thing is for all my reading, I don't feel any wiser or even knowledgeable. At the same time I think I'm less able to engage in normal con…

Something that really helped me was a smartwatch. I picked up an Apple Watch (cellular) a few weeks ago so I didn't have to carry my phone around, and subsequently, would not be tempted to mindlessly use it. I think the experiment has been pretty successful. For the most part my phone stays on the charger all day, and I don't feel like I am missing out on calls or texts since they come to my watch. Being able to leave the house without a phone is a particularly freeing experience.
Post reply on HN