On a scale of 1 to 100, how addicted are you to the internet? (1 is least addicted, 100 is basically drug addiction) How would you cope without the internet?
I'm personally like 70% addicted. If the internet shuts down, I'm gonna have withdrawl symptoms.
This post is a good reminder that I should save a copy of Wikipedia
My addiction is so severe, merely the offline wikipedia doesn't really provide the same high.
I mean its better than nothing, but you really need the memes and shitposts.
Offline wikipedia isn't even the same, watching the real time edit-wars on ongoing events is so fun.
If the internet shuts down, I'll be basically out of a job probably, so I don't know about addiction, I'm probably have a very bad time
It's more of a habit than an addiction.
If I have pretty much literally anything else going on, I don't tend to think about or miss the internet.
But if I don't have anything else going on, I'll probably reach for my phone or end up on a computer pretty quickly without even realizing it
80 before latest USA election, 40 after. Deliberately distancing myself.
I'd been trying to do this since covid, victory!
I'd cope just fine now, I lived before widespread internet or wireless services too.
Most of what I miss about the internet is already long dead.
Idk man, might be important to know when the brownshirts are coming to your doorsteps so you can at least prepare.
Well the internet isn't gone, I stopped at 40% addiction ;)
Kindof a hard question to answer. I work remotely in software. If I couldn't use the Internet, I'd have to change fields and start working in person. But is working remotely and writing code for my day job an expression of "addiction"? How about looking up documentation while I'm writing code on my own time? Definitely something I use the Internet for, but I wouldn't think it's an "addiction" thing. What about updating the software on my computer? Is finding recipes online "addiction"?
Social media is "addictive". For sure.
So, I guess if you're counting everything I use the internet for as "addiction" and asking how well I'd fare (with 100 being extremely poorly), I'd probably have to put it pretty high. Maybe 85 or more?
If you only disallowed uses of the Internet that qualify as "addictive" such as doomscrolling or four-hour-long YouTube in-depth deep dives on invisible walls in Super Mario 64, then I don't think I'd be really all that bad off. I might put myself at 20.
100%. my generation is among the first to be raised online, I'm not shocked. even as a kid a lot of my memories are just of being on YouTube or playing steam games.
I’d say 99% considering I work using the internet and spend most of my time on a connected device
90 I stay in contact with friends, even IRL ones, through the internet.
I can go days without. But I spend maybe 2-4 hours a day. Sadly I work remote, so I get bored. But during holidays and staycations, I hardly pick up my phone, let alone a laptop. 30. 30 is my addiction number.
Hello stranger. I would just like to thank you for using the phrase "let alone" correctly. As far as I can remember, this is my first such sighting on Lemmy. Thank you.
Must be quite high for me too since every time our internet doesn't work I realise how little things you can do on your phone and PC that don't rely on the internet. Even for programming you constantly need to look up things.
I honestly can't grasp how someone would program without being able to search the reading medium with CTRL + F.
The manual way of finding stuff in a book is annoying and laborious as hell.
I guess I'm not too addicted, though 99.9% of all my direct communication relies on it, so that'd be the biggest blow I'd feel. I almost never play online, so I'd be fine on that, though I'd have to rely on whatever's already installed on my computer. Maybe I have to bite the bullet and make a home media server to put all my GOG stuff there... Half of my salary just for an 8tb drive, tho 😭
I depends on how depressed I am.
Feeling good? No internet is fine, I'll draw, worldbuild (although it's a bit "lonely" without chatgpt), play offline games, make Mario Maker levels, romhack, work on games, compose a song, etc.
Unmotivated as hell? I'm about ready to die if I can't scroll annoying and depressing content.
Now no power is another story. Life is nothing without electricity.
Power is actually easy to fix. Get a generator, pour fossil fuels, start it. (may cost you a bit, but its technically an option)
Internet, well the ISPs are practicallt the internet, so you can't just become your own ISP.
Always wanted to make an alternate content distrobution system. Without being an ISP, your eather not allowed to encrypt it (http only for IP over radio) or the signals dont go far enough without mass adoption (wifi mesh network) It exists but Amazon and Apple etc own it and those frequencies are a warzone. Physical distrobution is mesured is days and weeks.
20, I would love the world without internet back.
The older I get the more it's obvious we were better off without.
I'd say I'm probably around 20-30%. If the internet were to disappear tomorrow, the only thing it'd affect is my work which I'm not really concerned about. The only thing I'd probably miss is watching random stuff on YouTube.
I don't have withdrawal symptoms without the Internet, but I certainly get bored without it since I use it a lot. So maybe 70-80% addicted. I've never known a world without it and here I am spending most of my free time watching videos when I'm not listening to music locally stored on my devices or on CD. That, and doing a lot of online looking when I'm not playing games, some of which are Internet/data (because mobile) required. Internet is a huge part of my mortal life right now, but at least I'm self aware enough to know I'm addicted to Hell and back.
About 85-90% I can handle a few days away from the internet if I have some podcasts saved, as well as some random wikipedia articles.
Currently I have about 100 podcast episodes and plenty of different wiki articles saved on my phone.
I also have several videos saved.
Probably 90%. Whenever my internet or power goes out, I have literally nothing to do at home. Maybe I should get a board game.
+1 to beating yourself in chess 😅
(You can also read wikipedia offline. Search "Kiwix")
+1 to beating yourself in chess 😅
Somehow my Elo still dropped.
You can easily measure your addiction by how many tabs you have open right now.
I have 40 tabs open...I need...them
Not really, I kinda have some obsession with not wanting clutter, so I never have more than 5 tabs open.
Do your tabs reopen when you start your browser up? Because that's a sign of addiction. Or do you start fresh with zero tabs.
10 of my open tabs are the same thing because I forgot I searched it already (I Googled "Amazon Teamsters strikes" in ten separate tabs "apparently")
The others are daily games, weather, and then ChatGPT which I use for fun
In Firefox, you can just bookmark the tabs you always open daily in a single folder on your Bookmarks Toolbar. When you click on that folder you can see at the bottom it allows you to "Open All in Tabs". Very handy and allows you to close tabs.
Maybe like 90%. I don't deal well with borebom and I have literally to do at home offline, and since I'm living alone in a foreign country playing board games or whatever isn't an option. So... Yeah, good thing I wasn't born 50 years ago.
If you were born 50 years ago, you would have other tools to deal with boredom
I watch a lot of YouTube. But I have other hobbies, games to play, books to read, and shit that needs done.
I'll be fine.
Wtf is a hobby? All I know is doomscrolling.
/s
Accurate. It can be hard sometimes.
withdrawl symptoms
Is that when you randomly start sounding like you're from rural Alabama?
Wait, y'all become a raging bigot without the internet?
Nah. I'll just look like a scared kitten crying in the corner.
Internet is more and more like cable TV, so actually losing interest in it. But sure, still fun for a while.
Let's say 50%. If I can keep using my computer to code and do electronics projects. Maybe without internet I'd get to read some of the novels I'd always wanted to read. And I'd need to subscribe to some magazines to keep up. And find a way to listen to music, audiobooks and podcasts. I'm certainly not going back to watching regular TV if I'm bored.
I would literally starve to death.
I have things I could do but honestly being 100% cut off, it would be honestly difficult to go back to early 2010s for me (younger child me had not much interaction with the internet).
I would say something between 65-75%.
Maybe I would go to the library more often ;)
It's so bad, really. I use two phones at once, one for gaming and the other for whatever else, and I never am without a phone in my hand ever. I'm really just trying to block out the bad things that are happening to me but it's insane too.
I’m definitely 100% addicted. I would probably go through some sort of mental crisis if I were shut out. But I also hate it. I want to unplug, but I’m unable.
My addiction is basically whenever I have nothing else to do, like working on vehicles or moving furniture, or sleeping, I browse the internet.
So basically about 42%
I'd say a solid 50.
I'm fine if I have some other kind of stimulation. If I find a good book to get lost in, an engaging project, or anything else to occupy myself I don't think of the Internet at all and kind of forget it exists.
But as soon as I'm bored and have no other mental stimulation my phone is out and I'm browsing something.
About 40%, but it’s been more in the past. I was about 16 before we got the internet so I know what it’s like to live without it and I actually spent a lot of that time being bored, rather than reading books and otherwise expanding my mind as people would like to have you believe. I use the internet to support my other hobbies now. There’s things I would never have even known about without the internet and it’s great for learning about things. I like making my own beer and working on my car, etc. I wouldn’t ever have started making beer had I not read about it and working on cars is a lot harder without YouTube.
I would normally be about a 60-70, but since I'm a data hoarder, The actual impact of a loss of internet on me would probably be closer to 20. I've got enough movies/tv/music/games/books to last decades.
1000000000000% I have neurolink to keep myself connected to the mainframe of the internet ziteghist
Trying to be honest with myself here. I’d say probably 80. I’d struggle hard if it went away, but breaks while rare aren’t too much of a struggle.
We just came out of a 1 week long isolation due to cyclone Chido. I started weaning after five days, and I felt like a new man. I'd say 20% now. Probably 70% or so before
I think I'll be okay if they sell podcasts at music stores, or if radio makes a big comeback I guess.
More server addicted. IDK if I don't have internet but I want my own services to run.
80
Probably about 80% addicted. In saying that though, if there is no internet for whatever reason I'm fine. Everything is self hosted on my local network, eg Jellyfin, Mealie, Navidrome. Plus a bunch of games and an Xbox. I don't find it hard to keep myself occupied without internet with other things too like cooking, gardening, exercise and organising.
I'd say media like Jellyfin would count towards using the internet. It's basically Netflix but local.
My distinction would be at having to use physical media like CDs etc. and needing to visit the shops or library to get more
That's fair. It would be a mild inconvenience but I would just connect my server to the HDMI on the tv. Maybe load up some USBs with music as well.
90-95%
I do a lil typing' (I am unironically developing carpal tunnel 😅)
I'm getting less addicted to the internet the more time goes on, and I remember when using the web involved a copy of lynx browser running on a BBS hosted by my local jerky company.
As long as I still have the content of my NAS, and a way to get the treats my cats like (but I can't find locally), I'd probably be OK. I'd have to leave me house more though... I don't love the idea of that.
I'm already at the point where I wish I didn't have to have a smart phone.
Before Internet: chop wood, carry water.
After Internet: chop wood, carry water.
People don't go to public places to hang out anymore, so we're dependent on the internet for that these days. Does it mean addiction? Not at all. It's similar to drug addiction, if you're in good health and good company, time flies when you're sober. When you're sitting by yourself in a small room, you're dependent on time accelerating media devices. For me, meth accelerates time in a similar fashion, and I can spend hours sitting in a room looking out the window, no urge to look at memes in chat rooms. Meth is easier to stop for me because of harsher side effects.
When I go camping I don't miss it. But if I'm in town it'd drive me nuts.