Hey all. Been a while since I posted but had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine tonight and wanted to share our thoughts and learn yours.

We were talking about this guy who is "quitting the internet for a year." Here is a link to the original story. http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/30/29887 ... t-internet

Basically he feels that we as a society are to engulfed in something that is just a tool. So my friend and I started talking about this from a social network point of view. We came to the conclusion that 90% of what we see is just trash or something we dont care about. I logged into my facebook and twitter earlier and went, "why am I on here?" and left.

I have found the majority of what I like in social networking allows discussion or leads to another stories. For example my father and I had a discussion about Gibson's on facebook yesterday. We exchanged links and things like that and it was a good discussion. However, I dont care about so much of what I see.

John Mayer stated almost 2 years ago, maybe 3 that he deleted his Twitter, and started having better ideas. He stated that he responded to texts with phone calls and after a while, people left him alone and it was nice.

I am thinking of slowly disconnecting from social media for a while. I dont want to leave the internet. I love this forum, pictures of guitars and I read a lot of news stories online. Leaving would be difficult but it might be nice to leave the social media for a while.

So lastly, how does anyone else view this? Am I the only one? Is social media really just forcing us to connect with people we dont care about?
John

Good to see your post Andrew!
Your question is a good one so will require some thought.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind a government shutdown of the internet for a while.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Agreed. I guess the only reason I use it is because everyone else does, so if everyone was forced not to use it I wouldn't mind at all.

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former user radio_friendly_unit_shifter

The internet is a useful tool, nothing else.
If you let it engulf your life, then that's your issue.

The main reason I wouldn't mind is because it would cause a ton of fighting among the stupid and weed a lot of them out, while nothing but geeks are left to rebuild society.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

No it wouldn't..

We managed just fine for millions of years without the internet. And we could easily do so again. The various economies of the world would take a hit as business becomes harder to do, but we developed methods of communication then that would would work just as well now.

On an interpersonal level, I agree we would actually have to start interacting together on a more physical basis. But maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. The birth rate might go up!

Downside? We'd have to start paying for pornography again..

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

+1

Those who devote themselves to Facebook and Twitter don't have real lives anyway, so more power to them - keeps them out of my reality. In the end, the Internet is much like drugs and alcohol for many, just another way to escape.

When it comes to time online, I spend most of my time on email and here, on this Forum. But just as with my cellphone, I answer only if I feel like it, not because I feel I have to. And I don't text, tweet or any of that drivel.

The rest of the time I spend on the Internet is related to commerce - buying and selling - a most useful tool in that respect.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

Interesting thread. The vast majority of the stuff on the net is rubbish, plain and simple. In a way i'd compare it to when you first get satellite TV, you're all taken on with it because it's new. But after a while it becomes same old same old, all the while you're paying out for your net connection.

I was thinking of ditching it totally, everything, internet connection gone. I'd love to do it but more importantly i'd love to see everyone else do it too. It'll never happen though, it's here to stay unfortunately. There's too much money wrapped up in it.

Same with mobile phones; when i was young you phoned people if you really needed to but now the population has been conned by multi million dollar conglomerates into believing that they need this tool or their life's not complete without it. It's such BS. Mobile phone as entertainment center

If you had told people 30 years ago that they'd be paying money for the privilege of staring into a stupid gadget and sending banal meaningless texts you'd have been locked up in an asylum

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

Well somewhat. Being a digital native vs. being a digital immigrant is a large factor on how one would use the internet and how much it is used. Personally its somewhat difficult remembering life before social networking and texting and almost impossible to remember life before the internet. For my generation, it hasn't been a tool, but a way of life. So much so that people basically live online, have a second life. However for my parents are digital immigrants. They know life before the internet. My father only has social networking accounts so he could know what I was up to when I'm at school. Otherwise, he is a ghost online.
Are there addictions? Yes of course but I feel like for people around my age (18-25) its just become a part of life. No longer a tool.

I am personally doing a little trial run on something like this. No social networking and text conversations have to happen in 3 texts or less but then it needs to be a phone call. Just going to use today and tomorrow (Maybe Monday if I feel like its going well.) As been previously stated I am curious to know how people react, if at all.

I've got loads of quarters for the peep shows. None of the shady ones either! No finger in the eye in the end! Or we can do like the movie Porky's.

Anyways, the reason I say this is my school experience so far. I'm not concerned about the people who knew life before the internet, I'm concerned for the current generation, the stupid generation. There are people who are constantly talking about Twitter or Facebook in person and it really gets to me. I'm genuinely bothered by this. Yes, I use Facebook, but mainly for the communication aspect, and the ability to organize events is so much easier. Like for this summer, I organized 2 concert seeing times with 8 or so friends. I wouldn't want to call all of those people!

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

I grew up before the internet and social networking. I like the internet as a resource tool and for sites that help me with my interests (like this site). Gabbing with people who are interested in the same things is cool. I rarely interest myself with news or entertainment and just a bit with FB. It would be difficult to disengage from the resources but the rest of it I can do without.

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...I for one, sure would appreciate the return of intelligent conversation, spirit of assistance and the simple yet effective ignoring of those who can't seem to hang with that...
Best regards,
rob

I don't tweet or have a faceplant account, but I like forums like this. IMO the internet is a fast track to learning and as well as a tool, I met met a lot friends on another local forum.

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Gary

Seriously? You prefer government force to the internet? You're joking, right?

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.

Holy crap! Is Joe Stalin your role model!? You want a government shut down, by force, of the internet so that riots would start? Am I getting that right?

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.