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I'VE TRIED TO IGNORE IT, BUT IT WON'T GO AWAY.
I've become a bogged down blogger, a computer crazed creature with no life, according to a Statistics Canada study released this week.
Here, in point form, are the findings from the study:
Heavy users of the Internet -- an hour a day or more -- do the following:
1. Spend less time with their spouse and children.
2. Do less paid work.
3. Spend more time at home, though do less cleaning.
4. Don't spend as much time participating in sports.
5. Volunteer less.
6. Spend 119 more minutes alone than people who don't use the Internet.
7. Heavy users spend an average of 2 1/2 hours online in their spare time.
8. While heavy users spend a lot less time in face to face contact, they were still interacting with people through email or online chatting (or, I would imagine, on blogging).
The study tracked Internet use in 2005 as part of a survey conducted every few years on how Canadians spend their time. Blogging, strangely, is not mentioned in the newspaper story at all.
So, since I got this new-fangled computer and started blogging, I have to admit that while I get an incredible amount of intellectual/emotional stimulation, the fact remains: I'm sitting on my ass in front of a computer almost every night.
Unfortunately, we have not yet evolved into the futuristic species depicted in some movies of having no physical bodies (which need exercise) into merely brains or, presumably much further on, beings without bodies at all.
I realize this may not be a popular topic for bloggers to contemplate. My experience is we love what we do and we treasure the interaction we can have with people all over the planet.
But what do you think? Are you becoming a blogger blob? Is the intellectual/emotional benefit you get coming at the expense of your physical well-being and your relationships with others?
**Is the intellectual/emotional benefit you get coming at the expense of your physical well-being and your relationships with others?
ReplyDeleteNo. Cos I blog mostly during work breaks. And I can type real fast :) So yeah I hardly blog from home and on weekends. And when I do I dun spend hours on the internet. Max an hour or 2 per day.
But I do agree that one shouldnt become heavily addicted to the PC/blogs/internet at the cost of r'ships and one's well-being.
Keshi.
Given that I've spent 17 hours on the computer in the past three days to get two newspapers and a tabloid laid out and transmitted to press, blogging and interacting with folks today has been a vast improvement to my psychological health.
ReplyDeleteKeshi:
ReplyDeleteBetcha can't type faster than me!
It's amazing how prolific you are with your posts and religiously responding to every comment.
And you get tons of comments!
And you still find the time to hit others' blogs too!
FE:
Nice to have you back in Blogville, me man. There is a great deal of sanity in this, huh?
I am always on the net. Although doing the day I participate in drive-by blogging...as the kids need my attention so. But having dsl means internet is always on, computer always on, and in between scrapping kids off of the carpet, rescuing them off of countertops and providing them with activities, I come in and comment.
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool.
Now the husband, his butt gets neglected often for the computer.
Oops, did I just say that?
doing=during
ReplyDeletedang.
Given my penchant for doffing my duds I find that blogging is a godsend of sorts. I find people are far more receptive to my notions when they are safely ensconced thousands of miles away.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I do not often get the opportunity to discuss global politics, predestination or paleo-anthropology in the check out line at the grocery store with the random hairy brute in front of me who is wearing a torn, stained, wifebeater shirt who is scratching his balls and inhaling a loogie while he is attempting to fascinate me with information that his third cousins uncle twice removed told him about defective ignitions on 1998 Mercury Sables like the green one (his I take it) out there in the no parking zone. puh-leeze.
Blogging is brilliant fun.
I ticked off "yes" to all of the above.
ReplyDeleteMy husband calls himself a "blogging widower."
There should also be a category for bloggers who feel like they're neglecting their readers when they're at work and either can't comment or can only comment sporadically.
Awaiting:
ReplyDeleteYes, you did say that. You also coined the term Drive-by Blogging. Excellent.
And scraping your kids off the carpet. Sounds wild.
HE:
So you blog to relieve the tedium of baring your butt at buds' bachelor pads and to avoid tedious conversations with fine upstanding shoppers in the checkout line.
And so you can safely spell out your moribund philosophies on life through a media filter with no face.
Brilliantly put. Agree with it all.
MJ:
I think we'd probably all have checked most of 'em off. So your poor hubby's a blogger widow.
Like it. Another term for the blogger's dictionary.
WW: I'm so interested in this subject. So glad you brought it up.
ReplyDeleteI believe that interpersonal relationships are becoming increasingly confrontational, uncomfortable and restricting in our modern society. That's why texting and blogging have become so popular. God forbid that you should actually CALL someone on the phone and talk to them personally or leave them a message with your actual voice, so you text. We are annoyed or frightened or something if someone IM's us out of the blue, and we have to actually come up with an answer in an instant, which is inconvenient, so we blog.
I blog during office hours (he he he until they catch me) and my computer at home is out of whack, but I never used it much b/c I'm kind of busy. It is an ever-present danger, though.
It is addicting because I realise that I would not have EVER met all of these fantastic interesting people...however...
ReplyDeleteCONVENIENCE:
Even though I couldn't pick most of these people out of a Police Lineup I somehow understand them better than most of the real world people that I have known for decades. It is bizarre and it may well be an illusion but there is something remarkably rewarding about it. It is EASIER than maintaining real world relationships.
(yours excluded of course)
Perhaps it is the low maintenance aspect? It is probably due to the fact that we can offer our opinions without risking any real world retribution the next time we are at the grocery store.On the other hand I am probably more interested in the opinions of bloggers because of the EFFORT that they put into manipulating, massaging and mangling my little cyber-world.
Either way, in the real world you couldn't meet 30 friends in 1 hour couldja'???
I find I enjoy blogging because it enables me to use basically good manners and bonhomie impossible to exert upon the gang of sniveling, backstabbing, lazy, non-leader idiots that pass for my management colleagues here at work.
ReplyDeleteCarm (and HE note):
ReplyDeleteAs sad as it is to say, I think you're right...it is becoming increasingly a chore to actually talk to people in person.
I often find myself opting to email someone to let them know what I'm thinking rather than tell them in person.
I've always thought that's because I'm able to communicate my feelings and thoughts more effectively that way...and not surprisingly, maybe, that I turned out to be a journalist.
Another element, though, and a very important one, I think, is what HE says right below you.
The fact is, I GET OFF ON THIS. HE was doing it before me and I wondered what the attraction was.
When I decided to try it, it took a while, but as you do it more often and develop relationships with other people, they become important to you.
I'm with HE...everyone who regularly visits me or whom I regularly visit is like a friend.
You can see personalities shine through, beliefs, humor, sadness, whatever it is.
These become strange but rewarding relationships.
It's all really incredible. It's like some sort of escape to another planet or dimension.
HE:
You got me into this, man. I'm with you all the way, agree with you on all your points.
FE:
Leader of meeting: "Do we have a seconder?"
WW: "Yes, I second that motion and those words precisely."
In a complete nonsequitur:
ReplyDeleteWhat's brown and walks through walls? Casper the Friendly Turd.
Actually, using e-mail can have much the same effect as the pen and scroll of Pepys and Bosworth if you're in a particularly literate and backhanded mood. Careful choice of words and syntax can have as devastating an effect as a time-delay aerial bomb when the recipient attempts to decode your message and realizes it just in time to feel the blast wave and heat of utter sarcasm concealed in a barely polite and cordial missive.
FE:
ReplyDeleteSarcasm, sex, disappointment...you name it. In an email, I can do it.
true, I'm addicted to the Internet. I have all the above mentioned syndromes...
ReplyDeleteFlora:
ReplyDeleteThanks for droppin' in, nice to see you...
So, I guess the question is, is that a good thing?
My own feeling is some things are worth doing, in moderation, at the expense of other things.
But how far do you go?
"Heavy users of the Internet -- an hour a day or more -- "
ReplyDeleteha ha ...I spend most part of my day using internet :P
Are you becoming a blogger blob?
I dont think soo :)
Is the intellectual/emotional benefit you get coming at the expense of your physical well-being and your relationships with others?
sometimes ...yes!
I heard about this the other day, I had to laugh. An hour?!! Pffft
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a blog let alone the internet until a few years ago. It really has changed my life. I've made so many friends from all over the world and I'm learning so much. What better way to get to know someone than to read their thoughts.
White Forest:
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see you back...
That's honest...but how do you feel about that?
CHRISTINE!!! A hearty hug and welcome back. Now THAT'S a declarative statement.
So whatever you're giving up, if anything, it seems you're saying, is easily worth it for the payback?
My only thing -- I'm a very physical guy, usually very sports-oriented -- is the physical part.
Sitting in front of the puter for long periods of time has led to some poundage, for sure.
I sometimes feel like Jabba The Hutt...
I concede: the draw of the blog is too hard to resist. I have no life. I tried to explain it to a non-blogging friend yesterday and after a LONG email gave up. There are no words to explain geekdom. The worst is when you start blogging about blogging. You're in trouble, my friend.
ReplyDeleteAndrea:
ReplyDeleteAgree entirely...when you start blogging about blogging, it may going over the top.
I've stepped into Blog Bog. But it's also Blog Bliss.
Not usually one to navel-gaze too much in regular circumstances, this study got me goin'...
I suspect the answer is to indulge in Blogdom to the heart's content, but to balance it off with all the other stuff.
i'm a blogger blo-ob... i'm a blogger blo-ob...
ReplyDeleteoh crap- is that a bad thing? i thought i was gonna win something!
Angel...
ReplyDeleteNo prizes, sorry...
It's only a bad thing if YOU think it is, and I doubt you do...
Keshi... I'm with Within/Without here, only more frankly skeptical.
ReplyDeleteI see you around a lot. Keshi, listen to me:
It's time for an online intervention here. You are in denial, young lady...
Just don't ask me how it is that I see you around a lot, OK? It's just something I hear, it's not like I personally spend all that much time online. Or it's just a sort of general impression. Or inference.
Darius (Keshi):
ReplyDeleteI considered deleting your comment, Darius, and asking you instead to communicate your opinions directly to Keshi rather than using my blog as a soapbox.
But I have posed some questions here that I'm encouraging people to respond to, so I feel I should let people say what they want.
I get that your comment to Keshi is out of some concern, whether that concern is warranted or not. I note you did not comment on your own time on the computer or on the Web, choosing instead to comment on a comment.
I don't know what information you feel you have that I don't that makes you feel you can pass judgment on Keshi, which it appears you are doing.
I want to say I was not questioning anyone's time on the Internet, not forming opinions, just posing the questions about an issue that in one way or another is of interest to anyone on Blogger.
My observation to Keshi that she posts frequently and responds to virtually all of her many commenters was just that -- an observation, not a judgment.
This was intended merely to be food for thought, something to contemplate, something I wanted others' impressions of.
I don't know that it's the place to single out an individual to address something that is their choice...especially when one can't know all the facts.
Chill guys :) It's ok if Darius has to say something to me like that...he's my friend and it's good he notices my blog life-style.
ReplyDeleteU both r right..I spend quite a bit of time blogging daily. But it's not like 5hrs a day! I work in the IT field and I'm always webbing etc. And during breaks I write the posts and comment in other blogs - thats all. Also I HARDLY blog from home - I dun even log in from home after work. And on weekends, I'm always a non-PC-person.
na Im not in denial. Im not a teenager to be in denial lol! I know what Im doing. And na, to date (3yrs now) blogging hasnt affected my work, home or any other aspect in life. I know I have a large blog but that doesnt mean Im 24/7 on it :)
WW check my latest post hehehe.
tnxxx guys!
Keshi.
One more thing...u really cant judge a person's time spent on the net just by looking at the size of his/her blog and his/her comments. Can u? It could be that that person takes a good 2hrs per day and does all of that on the net and that's it for the day. Is 2hrs a day too much time spent on the net? I really dun think so.
ReplyDeleteKeshi.
have to admit that while I get an incredible amount of intellectual/emotional stimulation,...> this is why i blog. And I am a blogger blob! and i like ur blog.
ReplyDeleteKeshi (Darius):
ReplyDeleteFair enough, I just wanted to make sure you knew that I wasn't making any judgments. It wasn't the point of the post.
And while I DO find it amazing that you can respond so thoroughly to what often seems to be easily more than 100 comments -- and still hit others' blogs so much -- I wasn't making any judgments there either...
Cheers
Ghost: Nice to see you again.
I guess anyone who does this with any regularity HAS to be a blogger blob, good, bad or in between!
good thoughts...i hope all of this is not true for me!?!
ReplyDeletea blobby brain body...yikes!
--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
yup and I agree with Ghosty...I get alot of knowledge, courage, strength and alot of other things thru blogs. Cos even behind blogs, what we find are humans. And blogs r a medium to communicate instantly and get that instant advice/knowledge/emotional strength and development one needs. So why not get it if u can? :)
ReplyDeleteKeshi.
Keshi/Within,Without: I hate it when that happens...
ReplyDeleteHumor/irony seems to be one of the hardest things to do on blogs because you just have that print staring you in the face with no tone of voice/facial expression.
Please try to "listen" to this again, but differently:
I ended with: "Just don't ask me how it is that I see you around a lot, OK? It's just something I hear, it's not like I personally spend all that much time online. Or it's just a sort of general impression. Or inference."
I was making fun of ME!!! The only actual reason I could possibly have for knowing that Keshi blogs a lot is because I blog a lot!
CC Keshi
Darius (Keshi):
ReplyDeleteDoh! Yep, ur right, I get it...now.
I remember having one slight afterthought about this, wondering if you could be joking.
Glad you were.
Thanks for clearing this up and I'll refill my Don't Take Things So Literally prescription.
Keshi:
I agree this IS A source for all those things.
But this would never take the place of real, live human beings that I know and love and trust.
It's extracurricular, I figure, more than a hobby, meaningful, invigorating, a neat way to exchange ideas with the rest of the world in a safe, open environment.
RC:
Welcome...A blobby brain body? Yikes is right!
HE, you always seem to be able to summarize everything and give excellent opinions. Not trying to flatter you or anything, it's just coming out that way...
ReplyDeleteBUT I wanted to add that personally I think blogging is a great way to meet people and to learn things. I love reading so blogging is right up my alley. However I think it's dangerous because sometimes I feel closer to my blog friends than I do to the people in my real life.
It just seems to me that instead of interacting personally, our world is becoming one of long-distance interactions. It's scary that sometimes it's seen as inappropriate to up and CALL someone you would like to talk to. I even email people in the office next to me instead of getting up to talk to them. Isn't that weird?
Carmenzta:
ReplyDeleteHE? I'm so crushed...
I agree entirely with you.
Blogging is a fascinating way to interact with people just as you and so many others are describing in reaction to this post.
It's a brilliant thing to be able to express individual ideas to the entire world and to develop a community of like-minded people who are doing the same, in good conscience.
We are becoming less intimate as people, though, and I don't think that can be disputed. You described that phenomenon perfectly in your last paragraph.
My dear Carmenzta, in general one should not tempt the wrath of Widin,Widoubt and his wicked temper but thank you for noticing how well meaning and incredibly tedious my thoughtful comments have become lately.
ReplyDeleteI of course have to be very careful here in 'Snickety Whippets from Gunter's Place' because of the evil mastermind who cannot wait to embarr'ass' me.
Bu-hu-hu-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
ReplyDeleteEvil mastermind is right!
Watch ur ass, HE, or the Hound of Baskerville will be showing it around the world again!
duhhhhhh Darius :) I got ya! No probs there mate n tnxx for reminding me that I need a break lol!
ReplyDeleteWW,
**But this would never take the place of real, live human beings that I know and love and trust.
very true!
Keshi.
Yep! I'm a big blubbery blob of a blogger. It's not detracting from my relationships. I have none!
ReplyDeleteI crave attention from handsome, desirable, intelligent men such as you, your exhibionist friend and jolly chaps like Fronty. Even short bloggers are welcome x
Cherry:
ReplyDeleteNow there's just no logic to how you could not have relationships, especially of the male romantic kind.
You have the constant attentions of the bare-assed one and I'm a regular suitor, as well as Fronty.
Clearly we know you are not a BBBB. You disarm us with your wit, creativity and stories.
And now that you're willing to accept even short blokes, well you'd better lower your peep hole...(uh, in your door, don't want any confusion).