AstroBoy Online Forums

...of my own volition. Yes, you read that right.

Let me clarify: it was an assignment for a class of mine where I had to go without using "online devices" for two days. To be specific, I wasn't allowed to connect to the internet for two days. Afterwards, I had to write a two-page essay about it. I thought I'd share that essay with you guys.

Keep in mind that this is a rough draft. The final draft won't be ready for another two or three weeks.



I’ll be honest. I’m an internet addict. While I don’t spend every waking hour online, I spend a good majority of the day with my eyes glued to my laptop screen. When I heard at the beginning of this semester that I had to take time away from technology for a set period of time, my heart skipped a beat. The last time I went without internet for an extended period of time was back in the summer of 2012 when I was an intern at a church summer camp. I spent a whole five days without the internet. This situation was different though. I was usually distracted with camp obligations at the church summer camp. This time, I had to spend two entire days without “connecting”. That is, entering the digital world and communicating to people through a digital screen. It was a tough experience for sure, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.
I spent almost the entire two days cooped up in my house. I say “almost” because I did go to church on Sunday morning. Other than that, my day was filled with movie marathons, CDs, TV on occasion, and even vacuuming and dusting my house. I’ll interject here by saying that, although the challenge was to take a technology fast, the criteria for this challenge was not to use “online devices”, which included phone, internet, and iPad. To take it further, another criterion said “no texting, no internet web, no chatting, etc.” From this criterion, I understood that the challenge seemed to be not to stop using all devices with screens on them, but just to not access the World Wide Web with any of them. Once I understood this, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for this challenge: movie marathon. Well, and a few other things as well. The movie marathon idea did not go so well, but I was able to watch the first two Star Wars films this weekend. I won’t go into details, but I’ll just say that I found a lot of other activities to do over the weekend that distracted me from watching more those films.
Initially, I was pretty scared to go into this challenge because I thought I had go cold turkey on all technology with screens on it. Once I figured out the actual challenge, I felt okay with the idea of going 48 hours without internet. I realized that I would become a lot more aware of my surroundings. That indeed happened. It probably helped that I was alone for the majority of the time for the reason that I wouldn’t be distracted with my sister’s habit of constantly sharing with me what she finds amusing on her Tumblr or Twitter account whenever she hangs out with me. I could focus on the challenge in my most comfortable state by being alone.
That aloneness helped me to be calm. I could watch movies, clean the house, or do whatever and not have anyone else distracting me. Nevertheless, the biggest thing I noticed during the challenge was that time seemed to move a bit slower. I’m not talking about that kind of slow you encounter when you’re in the doctor’s office waiting to get out. This kind of slow was that kind where time seemed to slow down and I was able to enjoy things as they came. Believe it or not, I used that slowness to enjoy things as I listened to my Dream Theater CDs and watched the closing ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. This was especially true when I watched the Star Wars films. For the record, the first two Star Wars films as good as I remember them being.
I found with this experience that I was able to realize our ability as humans to not have to rely on the internet all the time. It is a useful tool and something that will stay with us for many, many years to come. However, it’s a world we don’t always have to be in. There is another World Wide Web out there waiting to be discovered. I discovered just a little of that this weekend. Also, I have to admittedly say that it was actually refreshing. I’m not giving up the internet anytime soon mind you, but if this experience taught me anything, it’s that I should try sometimes to be more aware of the World Wide World rather than the World Wide Web.

All of that info in the article is soo true. I'm also an internet addict as well. I go on the laptop at like 7:00 am and then I usually get off at 2:00 am! (Not anymore though, cause I got tired of doing it and also, I get off the laptop much, much earlier now, So I'm getting rid of that habit.)

btw, How old are you? It's okay if you don't want to answer, I just thought I'd ask. Are you in college? XD! I'm in Highschool, Sophmore, and I'm 15, so I'm just a kid.

Good to hear you're kicking your internet addiction a little bit! It is a hard habit to break, for sure.

Next month, I'll be 22. I am indeed in college! Sometimes, I still feel like a kid myself.

Yeah, it's hard to break habits! (Like this one disgusting habit I have of sometimes scratching my head, and shake off the dandruff. I'm still trying to get rid of it cause I think its unsanitary, also I hate myself for doing it. I'll just try and wash my hair more often cause I don't scratch it when its clean. Must've got that habit from my brothers, who some of them, usually do the same thing.) My internet habit is dissapearing, so that's a good sign and maybe I'll get rid of the unsanitary habit as well.

I'll be turning 16 over the summer, btw. It feels like I'm the same age forever! My birthday is soo far off. XD!

I do that every few months, for 4 (FOUR!) days That's not entirely voluntary though. I go to visit my grandfather, and of course he has no Internet access: that's not something for old people he says There are no Internet cafes either, so that's a cyber exile each time I found out it's not that terrible.

I think I'm one of the most unplugged person in my circle of friends. I have no issues going without the internet, my phone or even my television for months at a time. I think this stems from the fact that growing up we were without internet until I was 16, and although I played a lot of video games I was not so glued to the television that that was my entire life. I spend a lot of my time outside, I go on hiking/camping trips once a season and although I have tech with me on those trips they are not for social reasons.

I think it's a good idea for people to put down their devices every now and then and do something else, it's not good to be too glued.

I myself set a time limit for my internet exposure. Whenever I sit down and am at home or in a place that has internet for a long period of time I set my timer at 30 minutes. I do whatever I need to do within that time and I leave it for hours to do something else. Of course if there is absolutely NOTHING else to do (such as being on a long train trip) then that is void.

I try to limit myself.

I was in my 40's when I first had access to the Internet at home (via a dial up 14kb modem, s l o w !) As a kid I grew up with B&W Television, AM radio (NO FM!), phonograph records, reel to reel tape recorders, 8 track tapes, and cassette tapes. I built my own radios using VACUUM TUBES, and later transistors. During my college years the very first personal computer KITS became available, and I built my own. I had graduated college and was at my second job when the first IBM PC came out. So I have watched these technologies evolve, and even played a bit part in that.
I've owned one of the first VCR's, Video and laser disc players, CD and DVD players.

I've always been a tech geek nut. I have a ham radio license, and have dabled with photography, and astronomy (built my own telescopes). I'm now working on building my own 3D printer.

So ... Unlike many of the members of this group who have known the Internet and computers all their lives, I DO remember what it was like BEFORE this technology existed. I don't know if that makes it seem more 'magical' too me or not, but I guess the younger members might take it for granted.

I think that my generation DOES take a lot of technology for granted, which is why I try to be as independent as possible from technology such as television, computers and cell phones. Then again even older generations take some of the tech for granted and can be just as addicted and attached as younger generations.

I used to work for AT&T in their customer care and tech support and you wouldn't believe how many people called in well in their fifties FREAKING out because this or that was wrong with their phone.

One woman was literally sobbing because her phone couldn't send or receive text messages, and it was like that for only an hour and the solution was just a simple power-cycle. She was acting like a thirteen year old but was 57! :d oh:

I was really addicted to the Internet in my early 20s, almost like what tailz describes. It was so exciting to get to know so many people around the world! I have a feeling this is simply to be expected for most teenagers and young adults, but you are right, Earthshine, that this is not exclusive to an age range.

After a few years, it was no longer as bad. The older I get, the less I feel the need to be around a computer all the time. Sometimes I also feel the need to get away from it for most of the day. I have come to realize that I don't feel as good when I am tied to the Internet all day. It's not that relaxing, mentally and physically, even if I just quietly read interesting articles.

The Internet has become a lot more utilitary now. For example, when I want to study German, my old CD-ROM dictionary no longer works in Windows 7, so the choice is between the online dictionary and the paper one. I will therefore come online, but simply because it's so much more convenient for the activity I want to do, rather than some kind of addiction. It's also really nice to have an Internet access at times I am stuck somewhere waiting, but I didn't have it, I wouldn't feel that I was missing the Internet. I would simply be a little more bored instead.

The only thing that keeps me away from the web world is school and sometimes playing video games like working on my edits or simply just playing songs on project diva extend for example.

I rarely go outside. I spend most of my days locked up.

I tend to draw at times, but not often like I used to.