They say admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery.
Hi, I'm Meg, and I'm addicted to the internet. It's been 3 minutes since my last email check. It's been 5 minutes since I last 'liked' something on facebook. It's been 8 minutes since my last RSS feed read. I just sat down to log on to our family gCalendar to double-check a doctor appointment and before I knew it I was on YouTube looking at videos of elementary school choruses singing Coldplay songs. *sob* I need help! Right after I check my work mail and read my headlines on MSNBC.com
It's Hubby's fault. It was his idea to put a family computer desk in the living room, in the main living area of our house.
I'm wondering out loud how many people check their internet social circles, and how often. I will be the first out of the closet: I check my email, facebook, and my RSS feeds 4 or 5 times a day, minumum. MINimum. And Hubby and I remain the last two people on the planet who do not have cells with data plans, meaning we cannot check on the go. We're leaving it that way as a last guard against the crazy.
Mandatory checks accompany morning coffee, after I have fed and dressed all the beings in the house who require someone to feed and/or dress them. (Bob's good on his own. Just saying.) Extended stays in front of the screen at night, usually after 9PM, while I give 33% of my attention to Rachel Maddow or whatever's on TV Land. I do read, especially in summer, but I do this too. Hell, I'll say it. I do this more.
Remember the "addicted to the internet" episodes of talk shows? 10-15 years ago this rate of checkage would probably be grounds for forced participation in a self-help group. I'm wondering how I compare, in my addiction, to the vast majority of others...others who check facebook and blogs often enough to see this post...hmm. Liking my odds. Still:
- How often do you go online now?
- Do you check email/social networks/RSS feeds on vacation?
- Is it a standard event in the day (brush teeth, drink coffee, read forwards)?
- Do you go mobile, checking email in your car while you sit on 76 East in freakin' shore traffic...really wished I had a smart phone this afternoon.
- Do I really think I'm that important that I can't be connected to the outside world 24/7? Wait, I'll answer that one, since it's directed at me. Not really, I just don't care who doesn't care.
9 comments:
Hey Meg, remember when you told me way back when that people on the internet were not real?
Meg! This is great! I always thought that when the little man got here, I wouldn't have time to check things on the internet - but while feeding Avery, I'm on my iPhone checking facebook statuses - not an easy feat, since I'm nursing him :-) LOL! :-)
~Lori
Well, um, I...I have to confess...(sob) I'm an Internet addict too! (Ah! I feel so much freer now, getting that off my chest!) 4-5 times a day, minimum. Although you are one of the last 4 people who aren't cell-phone-Web-able people, since neither Dad or I are cool enough for that!
Love, Mom :-)
Glad about the data plan phones, because I'm re-upping my contract next month and am determined NOT to enable myself further by purchasing a smart phone contract. Lori, nursing itself is an accomplishment. Nursing and web surfing simultaneously is qualification for goddess status. Pumping too, let me tell you. And yes Dad, I remember telling you that. I also remember really just wanting to use the computer at the time, and since we were back in the stone age, we had exactly ONE. Think of it!
You are not alone! I have resorted to using Antisocial, which cuts off my access to any site I want to, sometimes. I'm pathetic. :/
heidi
I can't check internet from my phone either. Only from home. And work. And 4 or 5 times a day seems normal to me. What? It's not? Facebook is my real draw. What if someone I know has posted something new in their lives and I missed it! How will I know where they are and what they are up to 24 hours a day??? How???? What if god forbid my crops wither? Where will I be then???
PS: <3 you and can't wait to meet you in person ~ by then we will feel like life long friends already! And as a bonus we will soon be FAMILY! How cool is that?
I don't have it on my phone either. I waste enough time at home on the computer.
Weirdly enough, I might check Facebook one day, emails every two or three, texts and phone messages everyday--and I feel GUILTY, too, because while it's nice, I know that if my computer broke and I had no internet for a month or two, it wouldn't bother me. I'd call the people I needed to-that's all. So--I'm left with the guilt feeling that I'm not absolutely up-to-exact-minute on everything and everyone in the world! Think it comes from around 40 years without the benefit of on-line.
Post a Comment