Substitute For Real Life

[nailit]

Is the internet becoming a substitute for real life?
For the last week and a half ive been getting up at 5am to get my son up for work. The first thing he does is fire up the lappy and check his FB page. First thing he does when he gets home is...check his FB page. Because the 'puters on I have also started to log on to certain sites (email, AB, FB, news etc) In the past I would have waited for post to arrive, caught the news on the radio and maybe checked my phone for any voicemail or wrote a letter. It all seems a little odd that virtually everything is now done via the internet. Everything from communicating with others, to shopping, to work.
The internet has to be the greatest invention ever, but......

[ethandron]

It's not odd, the world and life evolves.. move with it or get left behind.

[Jackdaw33]

If you lived where I live, then if you waited for the post you'd be waiting a long time. We must be the only area in the country still to have an afternoon post. Unfortunately we no longer have a morning one. It is by no means unknown for my post to arrive at 4 p.m.

[Eleena]

No I don't think so. The beauty of the internet is everything is 'immediate' ... news, messages, what's x up to tonight? That's appealing, especially to young people.

[woofgang]

Is the news on TV any more real life than the news on the internet? I can remember when the same thing was said about mobile phones and texting, and, before that, it was said about TV versus going to pubs and social clubs.....maybe it was said about the radio too?

[Samuraisan]

Well the life evolves. Just insist phones etc are not present at mealtimes.

[Jackdaw33]

It wasn't the Radio in my day, it was the Wireless!

[237SJ]

Yes it is which is a bit of a worry. Several years ago I was sitting on a beach in LA and a group of 4 teenaged girls came and sat near me. I had my head in my book but two of them said that they were going for a swim in the sea. I heard one of them say "I am following you" I looked up because I knew that the sea would be pretty cold and I wanted to see their reaction. It turns out she was following her on Twitter. How sad is that?

[ummmm]

My kids, 25, 20, 18 have great social livess. All arranged via the internet.

[andy-hughes]

I don't think it's a substitute - I think it is woven into 'real life' and will always be so, just like films, television, radio, and all mod cons are absorbed.

They never actually 'take over' - it can just feel like that sometimes!

[melv16]

Me and the Mrs went to a pub last week. Four couples in their 20's were sat across from us, they were all sat there staring at and tapping away at their phones. We were there for about an hour and not a word was spoken between them. I thought pubs were for socialising, not playing with your mobiles!

[nailit]

Thanks for replies.
//They never actually 'take over' - it can just feel like that sometimes//
It actually feels like that every morning at the moment. I long to wake up and there just be the radio on and the peace of easing in to the day. Ive seen the sun come up and the day break and my son seems oblivious with his nose in Fakebook...
And then I have to go and join in the GMEB thread :-)

[nailit]

Melv16, that is exactly the point of my thread...t'internet is taking over!

[Old_Geezer]

We can all get addicted to stuff. Yes there does seem to be a change in habits with the Internet. It is a mixed blessing. But look at it this way. Before it existed you were probably equally keen to read the paper or watch the TV, or listen to the radio, or whatever. In the future there will probably be something else to get stuck on. The difficult thing is to keep a sense of proportion and not let one thing that interests you dominate your whole day. You only get to experience so many of them.

[Eleena]

OG ... I find your answers to many posts on here very rational.

[237SJ]

You think it is bad in the UK? Go on the MTR in Hong Kong (and Singapore for that matter) and watch the passengers. They are all glued to their mobiles - from kids to elderly people. It's quite sad.

[naomi24]

Sadly, I think it could be.

http://www.virtual-pub.com/