Disconnected

Image by bondidwhat

It’s almost poetic, in a way, that the weekend following my post about my online life, I should find myself without an Internet connection for a weekend. So first of all I’m sorry for barely commenting on any posts and neglecting to post a Sparkle Roundup this week, next week’s will be huge to compensate since I’m still working through my Google reader whilst writing this! Reading through your replies to “My Life – The Digital Version” has been entertaining, informative and really interesting, so thank you so much for all the amazing comments! They’ve sent me on a total nostalgia trip!

It started on Friday, when I was in Bangor, Wales, to see my brother and sister-in-law’s final recitals for their music degrees. I realised that the majority of Bangor, despite being a city, has little or no 3g coverage so my intention to tweet a lot didn’t happen. Then, upon my arrival at the college, I was unable to connect to the wireless network, so I spent the entire weekend almost entirely offline (barring a few times I coupled my phone to my laptop).

It was… odd. It wasn’t like one of those self-imposed exiles from online life, where I take a few hours’ break for the sake of my sanity, it was terribly frustrating! I returned home to an inbox full of spam and hundreds of blog posts to read but the relief of being back online was immense!

I certainly wouldn’t have felt like that ten years ago.

Without the Internet and other related technology, I am convinced that I would be a very different person to the one I am today. I’d probably be more inclined to be sociable, since with the Internet, there’s always someone to talk to or something to read up on when I’m not quite sure I want to leave the house. Online communities are a great thing, and I’ve met some really great people through them, some whom I now know in real life, others who I simply follow online. I speak to people all over the world and I have friends I visit all over the country, mostly due to the Internet. I do wonder however, whether I would have more friends in my own town who I see regularly was I not online so much!

Image by Faipdeoiad

The main reason I love the Internet however, is the great wealth of information it makes available! I remember doing projects at school for which I’d spend hours in libraries, photocopying chapters from books and taking notes by hand in the reference section because I couldn’t take the books home. This instant-access to research materials on almost anything I want to know about is something I’d find almost impossible to give up now, it makes writing easier, and totally takes the frustration out of not knowing the answer to a question, I love being able to Google it on my phone!

In my Behind the Blog Interviews, I asked a few extra questions for use in various articles I had planned, including this one. I asked people first of all Do you think modern technology has helped or hindered your creativity? Personally, it’s definitely helped. My thoughts come much faster than I can possibly write them down by hand, typing helps me to get everything out of my head in a form that can be easily edited later on, quickly and with the minimum amount of effort. I can sync notes made on my phone with my PC and bring together things I think of on the bus with the half-finished article I wrote the night before, seamlessly and quickly.

Helen answered: “Helped definitely! Flickr has to be one of the best inventions ever. I also love communities such as wardrobe_remix on flickr, where you can share outfits and get inspiration from other people. It’s so much easier to interact with people now, it opens up a whole world of inspiration.”

Freya‘s reply was a little more mixed: “Both. If you use it as a tool, the same as a drafting board or encyclopedia, it can be a brilliant creative motor, helping you get past blocks easier, have more ideas, and push you to succeed. On the other hand, if you use it as a crutch, as a procrastination vehicle, it will do nothing but stick you in the mud every time.”

Image by AmerigoLand

Many however, also thought that their concentration is hampered by this instant access to any information they want, with Ms Constantine commenting “You can often find me cooking dinner, watching TV, surfing the net, reading my Google reader, writing a blog post, looking at jewellery, making jewellery, downloading some shows, writing an email and texting at the same time. Women may be able to multi-task but when I’m trying to do this many things at once I’m not doing any of them very well.”

This is definitely something I know all too well and perhaps one of the biggest ways in which this online life has affected me as a person – I find it a strain not to multitask nowadays! My other half complains that I type whilst watching movies, and I probably spend at least 40% of the time I’m meant to be doing work, playing solitaire, reading Wikipedia articles and checking my email. I used to be a reader, I would devour books at an alarming rate but these days although I still thoroughly enjoy reading, I can’t sit and do nothing but read a book. I have to take breaks to do other things, because my concentration span is nowhere near what it used to be.

I think without the Internet, I would participate more in the local community, but probably have less confidence than I do now since the instant feedback that writing online affords has boosted my self-confidence considerably.  I think I would have a longer attention span, and possibly do better in exams, but my writing would be a slower, more laboured process and I perhaps wouldn’t even be bothering with it anymore. Having met other people with Scoliosis through online communities, I am far more comfortable with myself in that respect than I ever thought I would be, and I believe that’s another part of me that’s been changed for the better due to life online.

Who do you think you’d be without the Internet?