So I was in
So what did I do with my 15 minutes of free internet access at the library? What important things did I need to see and do online?
Not much, it turns out. Mostly I went to google maps to find the best route to the Getty Villa. I also checked my mail, checked my stocks, and read the comics.
That's pretty much it. I only used 10 minutes of my 15. Then I was done.
But I only did what was necessary while I was on vacation.
When I'm home and internet access is easy and ubiquitous then I check at least 5 different blogs, check the news on 3 different sites, check some non-news news on 3 more sites, check 3 separate email accounts and check my stocks. I do all of these things several times a day, especially the stocks during trading hours. Sometimes interesting links will lead me to spend more time still on additional sites. Words or phrases may lead me to wiktionary and wikipedia. And each site may lead to others, still. It’s easy to spend a lot of time surfing topics on wikipedia…
Oh, and a lot of my TV viewing happens online now, but that’s outside of stock-trading hours, and that’s another topic for another time.
My point is this: Very little of what I do online is necessary. The internet is almost exclusively a communication and entertainment medium for me. Occasionally I need directions or a phone number or something else informational. And I do basic things like balancing my checkbook online. But really the vast majority of the time I spend online is not necessarily well spent. It’s not time I’m spending making the world a better place. Arguably I’m becoming better informed, but just as arguably I’m not, depending on the reliability and the objectivity of the sites I’m surfing.
Maybe it’s possible that my investments are making the world a better place, but really my investments are small enough, for now, that I can pretty much guarantee they’re not making a dent just yet.
In short, my experience of “internet withdrawal” is making me question the utility of the time I spend on the internet. More importantly, it’s making me question the utility of the way I spend my time on the internet.
Thoughts?
2 comments:
It's an interesting thing to look at I think... Most of my time online, setting aside my hopeless email addiction for the moment, is spent on homeschooling my son, managing our finances (our bank is online only), and helping with job hunt stuff. My email obsession is also at least partially well spent time in that a lot of it pertains to synagogue matters and other "business" email.
Which is not to say i don't spend a certain amount of time chatting on AIM, reading FARK, and keeping up with my favorite comics.
The thing is we need to stay away from the idea that all non-productive time is wasted. All work and no play etc... etc...
It's all about the balance folks.
I just want to make sure I'm not all play and no work...
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