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Paul Miller did for a year. He is a senior editor for a tech
site called The Verge and on May 1, 2012
he sent a Twitter message saying good-bye to the internet. A year later he's
back on and sharing his story about what he learned and discovered along this
journey.
Image Credit:
fastlanepc.com
Miller gave
up web browsing, streaming videos, texting, and online backing. While Miller
thought he was going to miss out on practical things like looking up directions
and sending an email, he actually found that he missed out on much more. He
missed the social aspect and realized how easy the internet makes communicating
and making plans. Miller said that he felt more in the moment, but many of the
moments were spent in his apartment playing video games since all of his
friends and family were making plans to hang out using social media and text
messaging.
One thing that I agree with Miller on is that too many
people can't quit their phone or get off their laptops. "And in their opinion
they're listening, but I know they're not really because I've experienced what
full-on, true interaction is, and it's different than someone glancing back and
forth at their phone, or glancing back and forth at their e-mail. So that
became really frustrating," says Miller.
Image Credit: thecuriousbrain.com
It's funny when he describes the trouble he had logging into
different accounts like his Facebook or Twitter. So much had changed on the
websites that he felt instantly overwhelmed and it madehim anxious. Still, not
much has changed on the internet: it's still full of cat videos and memes.
Miller said he did learn to prioritize family and friends,
and productivity and learning over just generally consuming and being
entertained. He also noted that "We need to learn how to give each other a
break and not always expect immediate responses, to be OK with this new wave of
people who only check their e-mail twice a day."
While I could never give up the internet or streaming videos
(I don't have cable), I do think I could give up texting (I talk too much for
texting) and I appreciate Miller's sentiment about prioritizing friends and
family. I often become frustrated with
my friends who will look at their phone during dinner or while we're all
hanging out, and just the other day I reminded one of my friends to think back
to when we were teenagers and had to call the person we had a crush on….on the
phone, and have their parent answer, and then make conversation that used our
personality and not our thumbs.
So what do you think? Could you give up the internet for a
year?
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