Abstinence

I have just realized what a sad person I am. I am pretty pissed off right now, because I feel like the internet owns me. I didn’t think that going without the internet was going to be a big deal, but it turned out to be a pain in the butt. I had to almost schedule the 24 hour period I was going to be away from the internet. Certain variables made staying off the internet fairly difficult.
First of all I am taking two online classes (this class and WR 222) so I had to plan my homework according to my offline day. Second of all I am constantly checking espn.com, and more specifically a game called “Streak for Cash”. The “Streak for Cash” game involves picking certain matchups every day, predicting who one thinks is going to win. The first person to pick 27 games in a row wins a million dollars. The game is free to play and I’ve gotten into the habit of picking at least one game each day. Breaking that habit was the most difficult. Thirdly I needed to meet with my group Sunday for one of my classes, and our means for communication is through email. Last and least was breaking the Facebook habit. I am not a huge fan but I still check it about every day.
My ability to communicate was greatly affected during the period of abstinence. Normally the internet would not be a huge factor for communication, but due to my group commitment and our use of email my abstinence had to be planned ahead of time. It was annoying not being able to get on espn.com, but I was still able to get my sports information from watching television. Getting away from Facebook was great, and I think I know why. Facebook has become part of the day, like brushing my teeth or setting my alarm for the morning. I don’t necessarily like doing any of these things, but I do them anyways. Skipping Facebook was like taking a chore off my to-do list.
I personally liked life better without diminished forms of communication like Facebook and text messaging. I enjoy more commitment in conversation. Talking with people face to face and even on the phone provides more of a connection between people. Qualities of people are faded out with typed speech. My ability quantitatively to communicate was weakened, but my quality of communication was improved. A good portion of the time I am on the internet I would classify as boredom filling time. For the 24 hours I was abstinent I was bored a couple times. I watched movies and hung out with friends to fill the boredom gap.
The fact that our assignment was to take ourselves away from the internet shows us how intense our relationship might be with computers. I feel as though society is becoming dependent on the internet, and the reality is that computers have drastically changed the way the majority of Americans live. Postman explains that with technology come winners and losers. I find it difficult to categorize certain people as winners and losers, but I think that our society as a whole is a combination of both. We can communicate more easily, but has that made our interactions less significant? We can find about any piece of information we want in seconds, but are we any smarter? We love the internet, but could we become addicted? Or even worse could the addiction be so standard that we as society treat the addiction as a normal and acceptable attribute?
Abstinence from the internet was a great experiment. We are dependent on the internet whether we like it or not. I have learned through this process that one must limit their dependence, and continue to value other forms of communication. As a society I hope that we value the internet as a form of communication, along with all others.

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