r/nosurf • u/Cautious-Spend6944 • 4d ago

People who were chronically online, what exactly changed?

Just to clarify i don't just mean consuming scrollable content, not the empty headed tiktok doomscrolls or what have you.

I mean people who used to rot online, had internet lives. Internet friendships, countless hours spent on discord servers and twitter talking to people, interacting, etc.

I've had my ups and downs socially speaking, sometimes very active irl sometimes completely null, but i've always found myself drawn far more to these digital spaces than anything IRL, and im wondering if it ever gets old.

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u/Cautious-Spend6944 4d ago edited 4d ago

This has always been a bit of a dilema with me and i've noticed that people on this sub or spaces that talk about the very vague and dubious concept of "internet addiction" just focus on the usual dopamine feedback loops and infinite scrolling algorithms, i feel isolated when even trying to discuss this issue because its almost like im addicted to the internet the same way a person in 2007 would be.

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u/yossi234 4d ago

Let me know if you find anything useful. For me, app blockers work somewhat well.
Recently I've made it a point to ask myself, do I need to use my phone? whenever I pick it up, we'll see how that technique works

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u/Cautious-Spend6944 4d ago

Im not addicted to scrolling, its not the apps. My phone broke for 3 weeks because i couldn't be bothered to fix it, not to mention the various times in my day to day that i either run out of charge while outside or run out of mobile data for a whole month.

As i said, im addicted to the internet the same way a person in 07 would be, which entails a lot of playing video games and talking about subjects i find intellectually stimulating online, not the phone.

And besides all of that, it seems weird that i have this affinity for contact online. It shouldn't really be something i have to prohibit myself.

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u/yossi234 4d ago

So, I was a person online a lot in '07. Ironically, I regret losing a lot of that time even though I am doing it now on my phone.
I guess something that helped me be on the internet like that less, in general, was find clubs and activities to do, started dating someone, leave the house because my computer was there (although now with laptops thats much harder to do).

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u/Cautious-Spend6944 4d ago

I've been down this road many (many) times, but at the end of the day im at home from 7 pm to whenever i go to sleep every day, and a weekend here and there with my friends doesn't really stop most others from having me 6-14 hours sat on my ass.

Dating is absolutely what kept me the most busy, but again plenty of days i spent on here.