Well, its Christmas Eve, and we are spending it rearranging the living room (in order to make room for the Christmas tree, which I am not really wild about) and cleaning up a whole lot of gathered dust. There’s not much to talk about or write about anymore, and IM is not a thing that I’m wild about anymore.
A whole lot has changed through the course of this year, a whole lot. As far as being online is concerned, there are few constants that have remained from last Christmas, among them being my fascination with anthro/furry art and therianthropy, my love for politics and foreign news, and my tendency to voice my conscience on different subjects.
But there have been a lot of new things that I have worn out quickly over the past 12 months. Internet at home, Instant Messaging, DeviantArt, LiveJournal, flash cartoons (well, then again, I return to those time and time again, lol), all of that, I’ve just worn them all out, or at least worn myself out from utilizing them so much. And now I only submit a work to DA every blue moon, while I find myself taking less and less interest in LiveJournal now.
And the worst of it all is the fact that I’ve developed contact with so many people within such a short time that I’ve worn such contact with them out as well. I think I can make a whole list of them, in fact (listed in order of who’s name I can remember from the top of my head):
Strype
Lance Foxx
Kitnoki
Sunookitsune
Megan
Wakkaookami
T.J.
Skipper
Frankie (aka Iffriel)
Sir Kinsel
Shadee
Cerberus
Blackrat
Phenobarb T. Wolf
Tintoraneko
Vermilion
Husky the Husky
Ghislain
Lethe
Smoh
Foxwithabass
Nauta
Sevron
Kristine
Kaijima
Disubluceo
SetonCello
Wolfstar
urbanFem
Jen
Yeah, them and MANY more.
The sad thing is, I don’t maintain contact with a great deal of these people anymore. I don’t know why, I just wear such contact with them after a short period of time.
So what do I blame this on? What could be the reason for why this has happened?
I blame this on IM. If I hadn’t of come across Instant messaging, and just stuck to other means, like DA’s Private message service (also known as “notes”) or simple email, I wouldn’t have been so stuck on who’s online or available (or neither) everytime I got on.
I realize it now…
In this aspect, I was actually living my internet life from IM window to IM window, trying to have conversations with so many people JUST for the hell of it, and rarely for any other reason. I was contradicting my own reclusive nature after all. I abandoned RL out of frustration with the people I had to deal with IRL, especially the church, and eventually replaced it with the Internet and its multisubverses.
Now I’m not saying that I want to revert to what or who I was before, but now I realize that Instant messaging (IM) is something that I can basically do without.
Realizing this, I’m considering getting rid of my IMs now, what do you all think?
I have loads that I don’t speak to much, you being one of them… I know exactly what you mean, I spend far too much time on msn etc… I wouldn’t get rid of it all together but cutting it down and putting RL over Internet Life is probably a good idea?
In the end, do what you want to do and what will make you happy :).
well, as long as i can have enough “time and space” to go back to DA and start writing ranting essays again (with, of course, a little to spare for LiveJournal).
basically, im just tired of IM, period (although the file-sending is great), but the temptation to keep it is just as strong as the temptation to get rid of it. So I guess, maybe I could just remain permanently invisible (unless the person is someone I’m more familiar with, like my sister in Iraq).
I was going to say “IM vs. RL”…
…but dichotomies are a sign of weak thinking processes. Personally, I find that IM services are useful in a VERY limited way; letting someone know, right now, what you’re up to or if you need urgent help with something. As a way of conducting a conversation, it is, as I’m told the kids say, teh suxxor. You’re trying to get words out the end of your fingers at such a rate that you compromise your ability to put any meaning into the words. It’s not possible, but it’s difficult. People who type 90wpm are usually typing someone else’s thought.
For useful, depthful conversations, my money’s on a forum or e-mail, depending on how many people you want/need to be involved in the matter at hand. You can read and digest the other’s viewpoint, and with some leisure for careful construction, reply appropriately; luxuries even real-world, face-to-face discussions lack.
As far as the internet as a means of avoiding the entire unpleasant amalgam that is the real world… well, unless you’re capable of telecommuting and otherwise living the whole agorophobic experience, that mess will lurk and become gradually more incoherent and messy, dropping on you when opportunity presents. Consider it the same sort of thing as cleaning up after an elephant– nasty and shovel-intensive, but better if done regularly than at infrequent intervals. It piles up.
Just some thoughts from a passing tiger. Merry post-solstice feasting time.
I just haven’t been online as much. I miss talking to you. I feel bad seeing my name on the list and it’s more my fault than yours. Feel free to e-mail or note me more. I’ll still use IMs, but I do try to keep up with the others as well. Right now, DA “notes” are the easiest for me to keep up with.
Alright, I’ll stick to email and notes then. At 12 tonight, I’ll either go offline, or invisible, permanently, and go cold turkey as far as instant messaging is concerned (maybe do chat, but that’s it).
We really ought to talk sometime, but you quitting IM makes it a bit difficult.
well, im not going to completely quit it, i just wont be using it as much as I’ve been doing.
I’ve almost gone completely cold turkey for these few couple of days, and I’ve actually found more time to write more stuff for my DA site, which I have all but abandoned for a few months.
I haven’t been using my MSN as much as I used to either.
I got a bit tired of it myself.
Mostly because many people don’t seem to have a clue what the status option is for lol.
I’ve given up on messaging people who are “on-line” because not getting a reply or getting a reply that the person is busy (when they do have their MSN set on on-line) has happened to me too often. So I just wait for people to message me now because of that.
Funnily enough I don’t get many people messaging me when I’m on-line.
When I set my MSN status to “busy” however, everyone starts messaging me at the same time lol!
So that’s why I haven’t bothered with MSN much unless I need to contact someone who’s only on there.
I enjoy IRC a lot more. Always have.
So yeah I don’t blame ya. IM’s can be quite frustrating sometimes.
I’ll be on there here and there, but yeah like you said, I haven’t really talked to a lot of the cool people I met on DA and SA anymore lately either. 😦