Substitute For Life

"The Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life." (Andrew Brown)

The internet is definitely an addiction. Apparently admitting an addiction is the first step to overcoming it but I doubt this particular addiction will subside anytime soon.

I sometimes wish I didn't spend so much time rotting in front of my laptop but my life is too linked to the internet to change that without a serious overhaul. In my defence, I do most of my college work on the laptop and it is infinitely faster to look up a fact on the internet than leafing through a book - although most of the facts are most likely wrong. My greatest hobby - writing - is done on the internet, here on my blog and on fanfiction. I talk to my friends on Facebook and find out what's going on with them by their statuses before they even tell me. I generally email my teachers rather than go search for them in reality. I even message my sister online sometimes when she's sitting on the computer in the other room and I don't feel like a walk.

Working on this trajectory, it won't be long until I end up like the characters in Wall-E.

 

Of course, the internet has manifest good points. Freedom of information and education and all that. Facebook represents some of the best and worst of the internet's gifts. It helps people stay in touch and as I'll be off to university this year I will honestly be using it to keep in contact with those left behind in Bexhill, and those who have decided to travel to places as barbaric as Scotland. However, Facebook shouldn't be used to replace human contact and physical interaction. It gives a voice to so many people who really should not possess that privilege.

This concept of guys and girls with over 2,000 Facebook friends is a little odd. I have 120 friends. I don't think I even know 2,000 people and I doubt those guys do either. The trend is to subscribe to someone who will then give you 500 friends or some such. This is not normal. These types of people are the ones who get "OMG UR SO HAWT!!" commented on their profile pictures, possibly from complete strangers. It doesn't give the person a normal view of themselves or the world.

I'm not saying I would object to a whole load of people telling me I am 'well fit' but the idea of a bunch of people I don't know judging me makes me uncomfortable. My photos are not staged for when I look at my best. And no, I am not just commenting "Aw, I look terrible" on a photo so a bunch of randoms will tell me how cute I really am. I do like compliments, but that is too far even for me.  

Something I don't really enjoy, but find curiously fascinating, is watching someone totally melt down on the internet. I am as prone as anyone to kicking off at someone, and I imagine if I had just been dumped I would also be sitting alone with ice cream and listening to Adele on repeat, but it is not good to do so publically on the internet. People aren't generally sympathetic to this; they just enjoy the idea that someone's life is even worse than their life currently is. If I ever do this, someone slap me. 

My laptop died recently. I have a bad habit of balancing it on the arm of my sofa and apparently it fell off one too many times. The thought of existing without my laptop appalled me. I could easy go borrow my parent's computer, but the idea of having to change my routine hurts me. To be honest, a bit of time without the computer to distract me would probably do wonders for my revision. I am also sure the world could do without my status updates. Much as it excites me, the fact I have a new green kettle, or how I'm having a wild weekend at home revising, is not something the world needs to know. It makes me happy though, so the world will just have to put up with it. That is the true gift of the internet. Aren't we all lucky.