Well, my original plan of hitchhiking fell through, so I had to punt a little bit.
Confession: I am an absolute Internet addict. I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Hacker News, Quora, Pinterest, etc. pretty much every day. I'm an Internet marketer for my jobs, and I'm teaching myself how to program. Almost everything I do I do online.
So I figured, what if I gave the Internet up for a day? How would I see the world differently if, even for a day, I didn't use the Internet whatsoever? I hadn't done that since I was on a mission (other than a week when my Internet gave out while I was living in China), so I gave it a shot on Sunday (since I need it for work every other day).
I was blown away with how many little things I wanted to use the Internet for: I usually text using iMessage, I stream all of my music online through Spotify, and even my note-taking and to-do list apps are all synced online.
I came away on Monday with two general feelings: 1. Renewed appreciation for how quickly everything can happen online, and 2. Frustration for those things that are still slow and offline. I think I realized how a lot of other people live: When you're not connected you have to arrange your life around things instead of being able to wing it. Everything from books to guitar tabs were basically inacessable on Sunday because I wasn't able to download them. I realize a lot of people don't think to download them in the moment, and as such plan ahead a little bit more.
Overall it was a pretty eye-opening experience. I still plan on hitchhiking though.
Interesting Rut assignment. I have always wanted to go a week without any kind of technology. Internet I could easily do without for a day (but I also do not use it for work as much as you do). Good on you.
ReplyDeleteI think this is sweet. I would be soo frustrated though going without internet for a week. I use it so much!!!
ReplyDeleteI hate when I feel like I can't escape my phone/internet/media
ReplyDeleteHaha! That's funny. I thought about going hitchhiking as well. Good job going without the internet.
ReplyDeleteThis is a cool assignment. That would be so hard not the use the internet because it's so much a part of everything that we do.
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ReplyDeleteDang im bummed the hitchhiking didnt work out that would have been a rad experience. But media fasts are always a fun time.
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