Erasing myself. Part 1
The digital footprint one leaves, is far more messier and interlinked than I had believed. It leaves an after taste that just refuses to leave no matter how hard one tries. The concept of beginning anew is non existent here because everything is cached. You leave trails in places that would surprise you and there would always be that (n+1)th trail that wasn't erased because you weren't aware it existed.
I've been trying for more than a year to leave now. But the Internet is a powerful wizard.
Such are the days, that any real life trauma can be vented out on the inter-webs and the virtual ears of a person who's willing to just listen is sufficient for anyone who can spell properly and afford an ISP.
What I miss most, ever since the Internet took me in like it did Jeff Bridges, is my attention span. Before, when the Internet wasn't my everything, I took the time to read a book. I read one every two months. I took time to relish the plot, fall in love with a character, inspired by another one and be inconsolably sad after a particularly gripping tale reached its end. Now, I don't have the patience. I like my entertainment just like my coffee. INSTANT. More like instatainment. It is annoying. If the next thing that will make me chuckle doesn't come along in less than a minute or two I lose my patience and go on to a new thing.
But the worst of all is the fact that the instant comfort, instant relief from venting to one of the million ears ready to listen and the fact that if you look close enough you find decent, genuine company online makes it unbelievably difficult to pull away the moment you begin to realize it has slyly taken control over your life.
Some are very careful about how much time they spend on the Inter-webs and hence have no problem with the pulling away. But for those whom it acted as an emotional halfway house, it is extremely difficult. Constant reminders from your brain as to what life can be without it doesn't make it easy at all. It can be safely said that if 0's and 1's are midichlorians , then Internet is the dark side of the force.
What I miss most, ever since the Internet took me in like it did Jeff Bridges, is my attention span. Before, when the Internet wasn't my everything, I took the time to read a book. I read one every two months. I took time to relish the plot, fall in love with a character, inspired by another one and be inconsolably sad after a particularly gripping tale reached its end. Now, I don't have the patience. I like my entertainment just like my coffee. INSTANT. More like instatainment. It is annoying. If the next thing that will make me chuckle doesn't come along in less than a minute or two I lose my patience and go on to a new thing.
But the worst of all is the fact that the instant comfort, instant relief from venting to one of the million ears ready to listen and the fact that if you look close enough you find decent, genuine company online makes it unbelievably difficult to pull away the moment you begin to realize it has slyly taken control over your life.
Some are very careful about how much time they spend on the Inter-webs and hence have no problem with the pulling away. But for those whom it acted as an emotional halfway house, it is extremely difficult. Constant reminders from your brain as to what life can be without it doesn't make it easy at all. It can be safely said that if 0's and 1's are midichlorians , then Internet is the dark side of the force.
Labels: realizations
posted by Shreejith @ 12:28
3 Comments
3 Comments:
You know, it was very difficult pulling away... virtual life vs. real life. I dont think they can exist together happily.
Nope. There can never be a symbiotic relationship between the two.
I agree with the instatainment. I wish my love for reading resurfaces like it used to be!
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