online and offline
Inspired by Dave's I wish you the best in the Offline and the associated Hacker News submission.
Where are the people announcing their recent arrival to or increased adoption of "social media, AI usage, or in more extreme cases the Internet entirely"? Who among those people not only thrive in the Offline, but could coexist well with me both online and offline? If you haven't found them yet, who could those people be for you, and how could you find them sooner than later?
Why would I want to retire from the dynamic Internet realm where there's always something new around the corner? If it's for:
- Community building, looking hard enough shows me so much of it that flourishes online, if not bleeding into the Offline.
- Working on projects that can be low-tech or no-tech, how much could online technology enhance the experience without ruining the project's spirit?
- Eschewing social norms, I wonder if being terminally online in a healthy and generative manner does that more than just jumping to the Offline.
- Staying online "without being trapped in toxic social networks" as hamdouni wrote on Hacker News, I enjoy toomuchtodo's suggested alternatives: "RSS, Email, Signal, iMessages and RCS, AT Protocol and Mastodon. What else does one need? Feature complete."
- Lamenting the supposed state of the online ecosystem, I like PaulRobinson's directive from Hacker News: "We need more talented people building the future they want to see"
I'll finish off by riffing on parts of sdcfgy's Hacker News comment:
I barely interact with people online. It’s here and email. And that’s it.
This has been the case for me recently, with here being this outlet you're reading if you can even call it interactive. However, that's where the similarities between them and I end. I'm not particularly proud of this lack of interaction. It's something that I've been meaning to improve on. Perhaps this public proclamation of sorts will get me walking the walk?
I don’t have a web site, don’t have a blog and don’t have any interest in social media. 99% of the time I don't even have a brower open if I'm using the computer.
Well, you're reading these words via my blog. You're reading them via my website if you count this subdomain of someone else's website as one. So many of my posts reference social media directly or indirectly that I would argue it's one of my deepest fascinations, more so if you consider this project a part of social media.
99% of the time I have a browser open if I'm using the computer. There are practically infinite cool websites that have existed, still exist, or have yet to be created which I will never witness. The same goes for countless people crafting awesome online experiences. Yet, what little I do get to enjoy is something I'd probably only trade for more collaborative endeavors anyway. For how detached online activities can be from one's corporeal self, there's a shocking amount of human connection and creative progress that can be had.
I’d go as far as saying that the online world, past essentials, is actually the minority.
Going offline is returning to normality.
Do I need to settle for that normality? Or can I take those becoming or staying dark on the Internet as calls for me to become brighter on it? Fulfilling those promises could inform becoming brighter wherever I go. That's a good outcome to have, because as sdcfgy wrote:
It’s easy to forget there is a completely offline world if you’re online all the time.
As hyped up as I am about the prospect of thriving online, neglecting your physical context as a result can have disastrous consequences. I believe there's so much untapped upside to harnessing both realms' strengths instead of just picking one over the other. Your physical presence and virtual portals can elevate each other instead of having their connection wholly severed.
I wish you the best no matter whether you call the Online, the Offline, or both your home.