When you start getting addicted to : 1)Online news 2)Email and 3)Webword :)

Posted by: Daniel Szuc on February 7, 2003 08:41 AM

---

 

When you purchase WebWord panties from Cafe Press.

Posted by: Flaming Drag Queen on February 7, 2003 10:11 AM

---

 

Please don't give John any ideas, Flaming Drag Queen.

Posted by: Joshua Kaufman on February 7, 2003 04:54 PM

---

 

Mac, that's a good question. Everyone has a different threshhold. For me, it's pretty shallow - I start feeling addicted if I spend more than one hour a day on non-work-related activity other than e-mail. I have one friend who thinks nothing of parking his ass in front of the computer for an entire weekend, or staying up until 3 or 4 am when he has to be to work at 8 the next day.

But, I'm a better communicator in person than online, and I think that puts me off of most stuff right away. Some people work better with the written word and see the Internet as their haven. Me, I'm too afraid of the permenance of what I write!

Posted by: Lydia on February 7, 2003 10:04 PM

---

 

Agree with Lydia.

There are many aspects of *social interaction* i.e. meeting people offline, that cannot (at this stage anyway) be replicated online. Some of this relates to other *senses* that are not being satisfied in an "online experience"

Posted by: Daniel Szuc on February 8, 2003 12:24 AM

---

 

I agree with Lydia too. But staying online for hours at a time, while still attending to your "offline social events" is not always unhealthy.
Do any of you think that one day we'll actually come to a stage where people will not be looking for off-line social events? where we'll be able to satisfy "most" of our "senses" online? Even "most" of our day to day activities that require us to socialize?
A topic that always captures my attention... if you care to comment I'd really appreciate it...

Posted by: Berna on February 10, 2003 12:10 PM

---

 

Berna, I see your point. I think it's up to everyone how much of their free time they spend online (it's usually friends or family who think it's too much!). For me, the idea of spending an entire day in front of the computer is usually reserved for a newly purchased shoot-em-up game.

As far as people who stay online rather than "living offline" - no, I don't see that happening to most people, but it does happen to some. I have heard of people who have had entire romantic relationships without ever meeting each other, going so far as to propose marriage or "break up" without ever locking eyes. Some people who may have ventured out into real relationships now stay tucked away with their digital friendships to sustain them.

In my own experience I see most people pulling away from any serious immersion after a few years. It's what happens to their lives during the immersion that is troublesome. Marriages busted (neglect), money down the tubes, time squandered, and nothing to show for it.

I definitely agree with Daniel about needing sensory input in order to get to really know someone - I sometimes feel frustrated when I meet cool people that I know I have no hope of meeting offline (live in a different country, both of us broke, whatever). Seeing them, taking in their body language, finding out about their quirks, is (for me) really important.

This is not to say that interaction with people in online communities isn't rewarding. I could not give up my WebWord, or the great people who post here. It's just that I don't have much free time, anyway, and I prefer to spend it away from the computer.

Posted by: Lydia on February 10, 2003 04:58 PM

---