Further Thoughts on Going Off the Grid

[commonpeople1]

millionreasons has pointed me in the direction of this post by Rebecca Solnit in the London Review of Books that perfectly encapsulates my feelings (and possibly yours as well) about going off the grid:

In or around June 1995 human character changed again. Or rather, it began to undergo a metamorphosis that is still not complete, but is profound – and troubling, not least because it is hardly noted. When I think about, say, 1995, or whenever the last moment was before most of us were on the internet and had mobile phones, it seems like a hundred years ago. Letters came once a day, predictably, in the hands of the postal carrier. News came in three flavours – radio, television, print – and at appointed hours. Some of us even had a newspaper delivered every morning.

It's well worth a read.

There's a link also doing the rounds on Facebook that has made me think of this question about excessive internet use: Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy. From there, I ended up stumbling on 7 Ways To Be Insufferable on Facebook and I realised how much Image Crafting I've been engaged with[1].  But... aren't we all?  Is it possible not to Image Craft while online?  It feels like a conundrum.

Those two Facebook-related articles aren't explicitly about using the internet too much, but I feel you can infer from them that a lot of malady comes from it.

[1] I was doing this thing for a while where I posted online every Monday morning a photo of whichever cafe I was sitting in, doing a bit of creative writing.  Then, I went dancing with some friends and they said (in the best possible way) that those photos made them feel like shit because they always saw them when they were sitting in their offices, staring at the horrible week unfold in front of them.

Comments

[millionreasons.livejournal.com]

I enjoy(ed) your Monday mornings in cafes pics - rather than making me feel shit, I was impressed by your dedication and felt I should make more of an effort. You may have posted about it, but you were doing something other than web-surfing.

Also image crafting isn't just done on the web - round robins about fabulous lives in Xmas cards for instance. And one can always hide the annoying people on FB.

I'd rather read about people having a nice time than moaning about their lives, even when they e.g. upload 40 pictures of themselves on holiday.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

and felt I should make more of an effort

I think that falls under the 7 annoying Facebook things (i.e. making your friends feel bad about themselves.)

I'd rather read about people having a nice time than moaning about their lives, even when they e.g. upload 40 pictures of themselves on holiday.

Same here, but I wonder if we have adapted ourselves to feel this way because we "commit the same crimes" and hope for our friends to similarly feel positive about our FB use?

[millionreasons.livejournal.com]

But you didn't make me feel bad about myself - I felt inspired to do more stuff.

I suppose I do use twitter more for moaning and tend to do "look I'm having a nice time" posts on FB. But i'm not sure if social media is to blame. When we meet people IRL, we tend to play up the good stuff (or I do, because I assume people don't want to hear whinging and moaning)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Well I'm glad I didn't depress you with those morning shots! :-)

I've had a few other people say they liked them, so I'm not entirely canning the idea. But it was interesting to think that maybe the vast majority who don't comment are actually thinking "prick"!

[millionreasons.livejournal.com]

I think that says more about them than a) you and b) social media status updates!

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

I liked them too! I could live vicariously through them. It's not as though you were being remotely smug about it.

[naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com]

Yeah, same. I enjoyed them too. There was a part of me that wished it were me but then only in a sort of "aspirational" way rather than a negative, envious one.

The blog posts you linked to, Ollie, were really interesting. I'd not come across the term "image crafting" before although I've had lots of conversations about it (ie: Sarah and I have been to concerts with people that have felt a little average, then got home to find they've posted "BEST NIGHT EVER!!1!!!" style posts about it even though, at the time, they were kind of "Hmm, that was okayish" - which is definitely "Image Crafting"). I'm totally guilty of it myself sometimes I'm sure but it's hard not to get sucked in... I'm glad there's a term for it though - sounds silly but being able to define it helps put it into perspective a little more.

There's no doubt in my mind that social networking to the extent that I do it is completely, utterly unhealthy. But I also have so many examples of where social networking has led to making good friends and has been useful that I feel I can't leave it behind for fear of missing out (FOMO - the other curse of our age).

[rockingthemike.livejournal.com]

i think people feel the same way when i have friday afternoons off. well, i work the extra 45 minutes the other days of the week; nothing from others at least stopping to ask if they can make the same arrangement. if they want to complain, i say you're allowed to make snide comments anytime any of your friends with children reference potty-training.

[rockingthemike.livejournal.com]

In or around June 1995 human character changed again. Or rather, it began to undergo a metamorphosis that is still not complete, but is profound – and troubling, not least because it is hardly noted. When I think about, say, 1995, or whenever the last moment was before most of us were on the internet and had mobile phones, it seems like a hundred years ago...

okay, i know the writer implies they've chosen the arbitrary date, but 1995 only fits for the internet. mobile phones wouldn't hit mainstream until 99/00. i remember very clearly being 17 in 2000, and being one of the first people in my high school with a cell phone.

regardless of the dates used, she's absolutely right... that period circa 1995-2000 was really the beginning of a huge paradigm shift.

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

I had a mobile phone in 1993, but no home PC until 2004.

[rockingthemike.livejournal.com]

everybody has a different set of events. i was just highlighting a common denominator, from a north american perspective. most people likely had internet access before they had a mobile phone.

[sublimevisions.livejournal.com]

ever notice when you were younger and online that the people older than you didn't seem as boisterous or as willing to offer information about themselves as you or your peers? i know i did..

anyway, i don't think this is a new thing. this, "let me talk about myself," phenomena has been going on probably for as long as humanity has existed. maybe the ones that are writing about it now are only more obvious of it because Facebook makes it that much more accessible.

Re the last article. I really want to tear it apart on facebook. It's shallow and superficial and missing the point as to human nature.

As Darwinian animals we are wired for competition and survival. congratulating anyone for anything, irrespective of the how or what, is against anyone's nature when they perceive their own selves as operating within a deficit. so if we find ourselves angry, hating, or envious, it's not because of that _other_ person. It's because we are unable to be empathetic. The feeling is an expression of an internal issue. Ergo, haters need to stop hating and just be happy for others.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

ever notice when you were younger and online that the people older than you didn't seem as boisterous or as willing to offer information about themselves as you or your peers? i know i did..

Oh yeah, definitely... those early LJ days!