Friday, January 25, 2013

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD

Sometimes I think about quitting the internet. Not all of it, of course, because I would miss you guys. But I think about quitting stuff like Facebook and Twitter. And not JUST because of how much time I spend, well, wasting time, but because I’m pretty sure they are actively making me stupider, which I think we’ll all agree I can hardly afford. I actually told someone the other day that I’d been thinking about giving up my smartphone. I love being connected to everything but if I had a problem before I had a smartphone, I’d try to actually THINK of a solution and now I just Google it.

I’d want everyone else to give up Facebook and Twitter and smartphones with me, though. It wouldn’t work if it was just me because everyone would still be busy composing 140 characters of cleverness all the time. The thing is, I miss the blogosphere as it once once. Before you had to brand yourself in order to have any kind of blogging success. Hell, before there was such a thing as blogging success. I miss people blogging daily (or at least almost daily) about absolutely nothing at all. I miss Greader as it used to be, a place to post and comment and gather and waste time, but, you know, waste time in a good way.

I even miss the time before Greader! Remember that? I used to have all of my favorite blogs blogrolled (OMG REMEMBER THAT) on my blog sidebar, and I’d click on every blog at least once a day to see if anyone had updated. Now it’s too easy. Greader does all my work for me, which is nice and all, but even reading blogs is making me lazier and I don't really need help with that.

Nothing stays the same, especially not the internet, but I do miss the way the blogging community was when I first started out. The excitement of finding a great new blog or someone new commenting on your own is still there but it’s getting harder to chase that feeling. There are so many stuff-specific blogs. Food blogs and fashion blogs and fitness blogs (OH MY!) but where are the people who used to just write stories about their general life business? They’re still out there, I know, but most of my favorites either don’t post anymore or they don’t post with the frequency they once did. WHY CAN’T EVERYTHING JUST STAY THE SAME ALWAYS, UUUUUGH.

That’s not to say things are necessarily any better or worse now. They’re just different. In a way, I love the closeness (real or imagined) that things like Facebook and Twitter allow us. Instead of waiting a day (or longer) for someone to update their blog, I know what’s going on immediately, provided said person is an avid FB/Twitter updater (but that’s a whole nother story). I’m sure the constant influx of information is giving us all collective ADD but at least we won’t ever miss anything. Perish the thought! And all other thoughts. You don’t need them anymore. The internet will think for us.

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5 comments:

  1. Oh, Hypnotoad.

    I miss how the internet used to be, too. I remember the day I discovered the RSS feed. That day changed my life. And now I don't use Greader at all. Thanks a lot, Google+. YOU SUCK.

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  2. Dude, you're so onto something. We're all on internet overload at all times.

    Also, can I just say that I have essentially quit Facebook and ignore it completely (even though I still have a profile so people can get in touch with me) and it feels GLORIOUS. One day I will probably actually quit and it will feel even better.

    I don't think I will ever quit Twitter, though.

    I miss our blogging community, too. I feel like we all graduated or something but nobody graduated anything really. We all just moved on to other stuff for no reason. It's sad :(

    I just really wish GReader would come back. I also wish I didn't have a job so I could have my brain back and thus blog more.

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  3. I'm here reading still! I even wrote a comment on the Garden State post the other day and then closed the window before publishing like a moron.

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  4. I miss Greader so much. The comment runs we'd have on shared items were always so interesting and fun. Google+ just isn't the same (and won't accept mg! as a person, so that's an issue, too).

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  5. I keep hoping they'll bring Greader back the way it was. EVERYONE STILL MISSES IT AND IT'S BEEN LIKE TWO YEARS.

    (Right? Two years? Am I close?)

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