I wish the other image dimension was available… anyway these are my trees (notes from Medium on images which I’ll change once I have them imported correctly)
Never would have thought I’d have trouble keeping up-to-date online
Kids, teens, adults, elderly all have some kind of relationship with social media now, right? It’s significant for keeping in touch when family move states or even countries away. In fact, who don’t you know doesn’t have social media and why?
I can name a few elderly people who’ve either farmed their whole lives and never even set up an email (to this day) or are suburbanites who have all their friends close to them and see social media, or even using an iPhone, as rubbish.
However, you don’t see many adults, teens, or kids who don’t have social media, as far as I know, although for kids and teens I’m sure it’s because their parents are internet-conscious after hearing scary reports of terrible things done on the internet.
If you don’t know any adults who don’t have social media, you know one (kind of) now. While I have this platform, DEV, and a few other social media accounts, I’m hardly on it, and it’s addictive. Curious to know why?
IRL is less complex
For short, IRL = In Real Life. Seems simple, right? Nope. Real life is simple, because communication has to be detailed at first in order do things more simply, whereas these trendy abbreviations just make our brains less adept to reading long paragraphs, like this one.
Alright, that last paragraph was a bit more opinionated. However, there’s something to people shouting out short phrases and then the backlash that comes from others misunderstanding them, compared to communicating thoroughly and intelligently a point. I’ve found myself doing this, and I hate how it makes the person feel (since I know how it feels when they do it to me). Examples include:
- “Bro that’s a terrible point.” — Why is it terrible? Maybe someone can learn from it instead of guessing what you mean.
- “STFU” — Isn’t the internet designed for free speech? Who died and made you king to tell people to shut up so rudely?
- “_____” — This is for you to write in, what have people on the internet blurted out in a comment that made you feel misunderstood?
Anymore the internet has caused people to react rather than think how their point affects other people. Also, while this has been a problem since the internet’s beginning, if some of ya’ll long-time users remember the days of forums or relay chat, compare that with people using social media instead of having more face-to-face contact, as well as the new term “brainrot”. I feel like this is becoming more and more prevalent as well as more and more hurtful… especially with so many realistic AI bots in comments that makes users doubt it came from a real human.
Whereas in real life, I know that doing the dishes takes 2 steps: unloading and reloading. Sure, there’s some scrubbing involved, but it’s a lot less than clicking around on a social platform anxious for the next dopamine hit. And that leads me to the next point…
IRL gives me more control
Social media is designed to hook people in, a statement I’m sure is all familiar. Users go looking for dopamine and end up being what’s called “dopamine junkies” (I heard it on a YT video, but feel free to cross check me).
Whereas in real life, I control how my house looks, what I eat, how I work, etc. I have more patience when doing archery practice, it isn’t like a video game where a person shoots a target by clicking the right keys an inch apart as fast as possible — it’s about studying where the bow, arrow placement, and focus is, and observe all around me whether there’s animals or people who might get in the way of my shot. Video games give no real world accountability, whereas in real life I’m liable if I accidentally shoot someone.
Hence, real life gives me a better big-picture perspective whereas when staring at a 1920x1080 pixel screen I can only see whatever is on it, not beyond (no, not even the dark web helps that).
IRL makes me healthier
Moving around is what keeps our blood flow going and posture keeps our back from hurting later down the road, a sedentary device only cramps one’s neck if it isn’t positioned correctly. For example, if you’re someone who started out using a desktop (not a laptop), did you notice the transition when everyone used laptops only? There’s a big difference in posture when looking down at a laptop and when looking at a monitor… that’s why some people use a 2nd keyboard on their laptop, like, what’s the point?
Don’t know why the image is so small, I’m about done with Medium at this point…
The monitor I use was 600, at least $300 cheaper than getting the latest laptop of similar specs (you can cross-check me on that too, I may be wrong, but my PC is pretty snappy with Arch Linux at least).
THANK GOODNESS I FINALLY HAVE THE OPTION BACK YESSS (not for the cover image though :/ )
IRL is too fun
Between archery, walking, climbing trees and using them as my gym, as well as simplifying and having better control of life, I’m able to live slowly and more productively rather than absentmindedly — or obsessively liking and commenting just to stay active on “social” (more like anti-social) platforms.
Takeaway
In conclusion, now that I’m not an e-girl (electronic girl), instead of saying the hip IRL abbreviation I’ll end with saying I love reality rather than the internet. While the internet has its perks, being on it constantly is too much for my young-adult brain now that I’ve realized how much it sucked my time in for nothing.
While the masses may be fine with tools controlling how they live, it doesn’t mean we as individuals cannot allow it for ourselves and our families. As the saying goes,
“Control the tool, don’t let it control you.”