Living Online
You know how, when the Internet first started to be a thing, there was all sorts of talk about people never leaving their houses, eschewing human interaction and the outside world in favor of being online?
We were all supposed to become this guy.
Today has been sort of a day like that for me. It’s been what I call an “Eddington Day,” a day where I do nothing but drink coffee and work on Eddington Press stuff. I haven’t actually spoken to another human being — like, face-to-face (email and texting don’t count) — since my wife went to sleep last night.
I do not, however, have those sweet gray sans-a-belt slacks in the picture above.
Thing is, I’ve been living my life on the Internet in varying degrees for the past ten years now. So a day here and there without human interaction doesn’t so much bother me. There are essentially two versions of me at this point — the Shawn who lives online, and the Shawn who goes out into the world and interacts with people. What’s odd is that those are both viable identities, almost real people unto themselves.
When I finally die, I think I’ll just find a way to transfer my consciousness to the Internet and live on as a helpful Internet ghost.
What about you, folks? How much time do you spend on the Internet? Are there Internet and Real World versions of you, or have I just been at this too long?
I think I spend equal time being on online and in front of the computer, as my work and writing requires both, and out socialising. And yes, it is like having different personalities. It is amazing what you can say online that unfortunately does not translate well when talking to real people.
Good point. Being online definitely lets me go on nerdy rants and talk about subjects I probably wouldn’t bring up at, say, a dinner party.