The Internet: Amazing, Fucked Up, Addictive, Asinine?

[Medusa]

I am going to put a poll in this thread. I'm curious how often folks log on, what you mainly use the internet for, and if you consider the Internet vital to your life.
Jack and I both own that we love us some internet. I might even own a healthy addiction. I love reading, researching, the social interaction, the videos. LOVE it!
We use it to watch movies, listen to radio stations from around the world, read books, talk to friends, research various subjects, learn to do things, store photos, genealogy, etc.

Do you think you'd have a hard time going without the Net for a year or more?

Do you think the Internet has helped or hurt society?

Do you think the Internet is the greatest thing that has ever happened or a completely fucked up world of jackassery?

Tell me your thoughts and vote in the poll! Choose more than one option if you want!

[Jesse]

I think for the most part the internet has been a great service for many people, myself included. I would definitely be most unhappy were I forced to go without the net for a year. I gave up smoking, and I gave up cable. I refuse to give up the internet.

I may be slightly addicted, but it is for good cause. I take online classes, I research and learn things from the net, that I otherwise might not have the opportunity to learn. Just from reading Medusa's opening post I learned of "a completely fucked up world of jackassery" This statement provides me with a perfect visual of a world of dunderheads running amok in a land much like Oz, but not. I may never have heard of this jackassery word had I not had the internet. :)

In summary, for me the internet is first a powerful learning tool, and second a form of social interaction and entertainment.

[Gemme]

I am going to put a poll in this thread. I'm curious how often folks log on, what you mainly use the internet for, and if you consider the Internet vital to your life.
Jack and I both own that we love us some internet. I might even own a healthy addiction. I love reading, researching, the social interaction, the videos. LOVE it!
We use it to watch movies, listen to radio stations from around the world, read books, talk to friends, research various subjects, learn to do things, store photos, genealogy, etc.

Do you think you'd have a hard time going without the Net for a year or more?

Do you think the Internet has helped or hurt society?

Do you think the Internet is the greatest thing that has ever happened or a completely fucked up world of jackassery?

Tell me your thoughts and vote in the poll! Choose more than one option if you want!

Amazing? Yes
Fucked up? Yes
Addictive? Yes
Asinine? Yes

Currently, I only get about 5 hours a week on it. Maybe bordering on 5-6 hours in weeks when I have more "free" time.

I used to be on it about 1-3 hours a day but things change.

I use it for reference, my music and for this site. That's basically it.

The internet is a tool and like any tool, it can be used wisely or unwisely. I think that the online craze is at the point of really irritating me, so I know that I am officially in training to become a fully realized curmudgeon at this point. That's good to know, so the internet and it's fallout has been educational that way.

[Linus]

I have to use the Internet for my job (I work in computers and can't escape it in many ways). For me, it's a double-edged sword. I love all the possibilities that's it's opened for those who might not have had access to the world. When you think of all the things we've learned or that have changed due to things like Twitter, Kickstarter, Facebook, etc. it's impressive. Has some of it been bad? Without question. As with any tool, how you use it and what you're goal is determines how "bad" or "good" something is.

One of the things that irks me is the "anonymous" person who feels that it's ok to defame/slander/libel someone because no one knows your identity. This may change based on the results of the trial going on in PA (http://rt.com/usa/fbpdplt-philly-anonymous-comment-186/). This will set an interesting precedent if it does come to pass.

[princessbelle]

I was just discussing this very subject with someone last night....

I think internet usage for me waxes and wanes. A couple of years ago i was constantly online either for social reasons or looking up news, video games or just surfing. I think i probably just got burned out and it was for a variety of reasons from it became somewhat boring to a lot of negative energy that i was privy to.

New ways to communicate and keep in touch are invented all the time. I do have my smart phone with me constantly and keep up with social media on and off , email, breaking news and weather. I do enjoy face timing with people which is more intimate than say, chat. But, to just sit in front of a computer and surf, it is now less than an hour or so, one or two times per week.

It's ironic really. I once considered myself addicted and now i sometimes have to make myself log on just to make sure i'm not missing something. Somehow the fun of it has soured.

But then again, tomorrow i could find myself with that need of communicating with the world that only the internet can fulfill.

I believe the only thing that is consistent in life is change.

[Breathless]

I could and would give up the internet IF I lived somewhere that I needed nothing from it, IF I had no children or friends or family to keep in touch with.. IF IF IF .. to be honest.. I don't think that I could ever willing give it up permanently. I use it for everything from social media, to contact with my kids, my parents and my friends, especially my BFF, at work even our phones are through the internet, research is a vital part of my job, could you imagine reverse phone number look up WITHOUT the internet? I gave up TV for over 2 years, didn't even have one in my house, and didn't miss it at all. I recently decided I should have a house phone, don't ask me the number (cause I can't remember) and I don't answer it when it rings, because I forgot to give out the number when I did know it.. ha..

I think I would give up some other major things to keep internet if i needed to.

[Selenay]

I think that we're living in an age of unparalleled freedom—we're like online cowboys, living in the fantastical proto-reality of what will increasingly become a hyperregulated space. Internet banditos.

I read a response once, on a forum not entirely dissimilar from this one, about what would be the greatest thing you could show someone from two hundred years ago. The original poster postulated that the answer would be the ability to carry in your pocket a device capable of infinite knowledge—a device that allows you to know anything with total immediacy, to talk to anyone in the world without delay—and we use it to mock each other and look at photos of cats.

I think that answer is partially true—we do largely use the internet for its perceived evils—its ability to give us dissociation, to push us further away from people. We also use it for all of its glorious benefits—the ability to meet and talk to and learn from people, globally, and the ability to know everything.

I am already thrilled to see the internet's next incarnation—even/especially if it brings me as much head-hanging shame as the old Geocities and Angelfire websites we thought were soooo cool, a decade ago.

[Corkey]

The internet is what one makes of it. All of the above with some I can take it or leave it.

I didn't grow up with it in my youth so it isn't something that I can't live without. Still don't have a "smart phone" and don't feel the need for one. Have a basic cell phone for emergencies and more minutes than service days.
What I find I do use the internet for is more political than social use.
But hey I'm a ol' fuck and if it were to disappear I wouldn't be devastated by it.

[imperfect_cupcake]

I use the internet for school, to research projects at home, to download free books, to download movies and music, to communicate with my friends in the UK, Europe and Australia. Oh and the states lol.
I also use it to watch programs, I don't have a tv, no longer need it. My phone has internet applications on it to text for free and talk for free.
So I use it for pretty much everything

[VintageFemme]

I love the internet. I love everything about it. From an educational standpoint to a social viewpoint. If I want to know something, I Google it. If I want a review or recommendation, I do the same. I've made friends, met lovers, found jobs, watched movies & tv, videos & lectures, shopped, created, experienced and even made a couple dreams come true - all on and because of, the internet. There are children living today that have never lived without the internet. There are schools that rarely even use books any longer rather most of their curriculum is taught on and from the internet. Politicians are made and unmade because of the internet. Businesses are as well. It is not merely a tool or a toy but rather a way of life and just part of our society and our world. It's more revolutionary than the television even was in it's inception. And it's here to stay. Besides being a nature nerd *smile* I'm also a techie groupie. I love everything that comes with a button to push or something to tap. I'm such a curious type which is a perfect marriage for the internet I think. Amazing? You bet. Fucked up? What??? Addictive? No, we're just learning to adopt it into our lives I think. Asinine? I reiterate, what???

[TruTexan]

I use the internet for a variety of things from reading topics, news, weather, sports info. to making new friends in social media. I live in such a rural area that there is not a population that is all inclusive of the gay lifestyle. In fact, I haven't even seen any around here let alone met any, other than my looking myself in the mirror, with that being said, I use it to maintain a link to my lifestyle of being a butch into femmes and like minded and like lifestyle individuals on the net, like an extended family for me. That's another reason I 'm grateful for the planet and for the internet. I think I would go absolutely shit stir crazy living here and being the only gay person around within an hours drive of where I live.
I miss being social in r/t with friends, but I live where I live and live alone because I take care of my mom when she needs things done or go to the doctor, etc. I haven't partnered or even thought about partnering with anyone because I live so far from anyone to meet and because of my situation of not being able to move to be with a partner. I"m diligently doing my duty as my mother's child that is single, to take care of her the best way that I can in my abilities. Otherwise, my ass would be back in Austin. LOL

ETA: I'm grateful for the internet. I don't think it's asinine. I do think people get addicted to the things ON the internet. I think it's just part of our society moving forward with time and new engineering of things to use.

[diamondrose]

I frequently use the internet at work and often catch myself in a thought of appreciation to have the internet at my hands.