Internet Fasts

sonoko

Many, if not all, users here will agree that social media and adjacent sites (4chan,reddit etc) make them feel like their brain is getting fried and I'm sure that many would love to walk away from it all. Recently, the internet has grown super tiresome to me. Usually detoxing from the Internet entirely is impossible due to work but I've got a couple of weeks off coming up so am tempted to try it. Anyone done so before? Any advice?

Porter

sonoko I had a stretch where I was able to cut down on doomscrolling by blocking my browser app for certain parts of the day. I downloaded this app called 'Freedom' which acts as a notification mute/app whitelist so you can minimize distractions and stuff.

Although like other people in the thread have said, you really need to find something to occupy that dead time, otherwise you're still bored and whittling away time on BS, just not online. You could argue thats an improvement, and I'd agree, but lacking an easy replacement activity is what made me eventually backslide back into doomscrolling. >.>

Also if you use your PC habitually it could be worth reorganizing your office/moving it to a new room to upset that habit. I'm actually dealing with that exact issue right now because I've got no place to move my setup.

808skanka

Best advice i could give you is to occupy that free time with other activities that stimulate your brain in a positive way; read books, go out, solve crucigrams, listen to music, WHATEVER, just stay on movement.

At least in my experience, I've found out that using the internet properly is more helpful than leaving it completely, but your case might be completely different.

I mainly use the internet to navigate bandcamp, lainchan, this forum and youtube, with an extension that gets rid of the feed, and i try to limit my usage per day so that i don't get isolated overtime, and so that i get stuff done.

Just try to leave the internet for some time and see if you star to feel any better after a week.

Good luck.

sonoko

808skanka At least in my experience, I've found out that using the internet properly is more helpful than leaving it completely, but your case might be completely different.

I think you might be right. It's mainly a few sites that suck up all my time.

Lumeinshin and its best for the site if you stay online to be here

Oh, you <3... But I think you are right, cutting down on scrolling sites with feedback loops is best, but retaining healthier sites (like this one) is the way to go.

damas

Delete any accounts and block the sites DNS-wide. Your brain will want to instinctively visit those sites for easy stimulation. Meditation and breathing exercises should help.

It's important to internalize that when you're interacting with content online consecutively, you're going to forget most of it, disregarding the fact that most it is useless information.

Lumeinshin

I've not necessarily had a "internet fast" per se, but i've noticed that I have certain sites and such I spend too much time on. Since i'm primarily a desktop user I can just remove my access to a laptop/pc and that does 90% of the job. Saying that though I would not always replace the activity with anything productive so its a bit of a mixed bag.
Just going out for walks and shopping/outdoor activity is the best way to use the internet less.

A total internet fast is difficult these days, I think the best thing to do is to try not use the endless scrolling sites full of ads where possible and not beat yourself up too badly if you end up wasting 30 mins every now and then.. and its best for the site if you stay online to be here 🙂

Doc

I've done internet fasts for a week or so and they have gone pretty well. As everyone else says you would need something else to preoccupy your time. I would have a one or two books that I have had on the backlog to read, a group of movies/shows to watch, and places/events to go to. The best advice I would have is to have a goal of what you would want to do instead beforehand. If you don't have anything planned, then you would just feel like you are wasting time doing nothing and that somehow you are being less productive than wasting time on the internet. I know personally it was very easy to do a lot of things since the internet took up an insane amount of time in a day, and even the things that took more effort were being done because the alternative was staring at a wall. Since you have a vacation coming up (and assuming you have the funds), it would be super easy to go to a different city where you don't have your computer for temptation and everything is new and interesting to you with lots of stuff to do.

gingermilk

I don't think we need to be physically engaged in some activities all the time and appear to be occupied. It is perfectly healthy to enjoy a little bit of boredom and contemplation. Ultimately a permanent replacement activity is necessary to break the cycle of doomscrolling, but the first step towards that goal is to allow yourself to be bored yet not to be anxious of the empty feeling.

Doc

gingermilk

the first step towards that goal is to allow yourself to be bored yet not to be anxious of the empty feeling.

I disagree with this. I think that is something that happens after weeks of cutting down on internet use. I can only feel content doing nothing and being bored after I have completed a ton of goals and been productive. The most prominent anxiety I have gotten from using the internet a lot is the feeling that I am bored, and that I am wasting my time. If I am doing both of those things while not on the internet, then I don't see why my anxiety would go down. I'll still have that nagging feeling that I should be doing something else.

Mercury

gingermilk
This anxious feeling for me is entirely related to the idea of productivity. We only have so many hours in the day, and even when the goal is not to work, but do something entertaining or relaxing, there is a limited time-slot before your obligations cut the fun short, so to spend them doing literally nothing when there's a to-do list with hundreds of ideas and an entire floating universe of pseudo-humans and their happenings to catch up with, the frustration is unbearable. And of course, the catching-up is easier to do, so that's what we gravitate towards. It kills any sort of spontaneity and turns everything you could've loved into a chore... I'm pretty sure if I didn't have to work for a living, it would be a literal non-issue.

Doc
Exactly this. What I try to tell myself is it comes down to the fact that we need rest. To be productive and to be mentally sound. Doomscrolling keeps a sort of basic sense of boredom at bay, but it also keeps you exposed to all these mechanisms of anger and fearmongering, advertising etc. which only leaves you feeling more stressed and unfulfilled in the long run. I guess the best thing to do would be to recognize this anxiety as an illusion and learn to be okay with it?

neuken in de keuken

i actually came off a social media detox (partial as i only stopped using my big 3 apps that take up a majority of my time) in the beginning of this month and it helped out a lot redirecting my attention to hobbies and interests I loved before the internet took up a chunk of my attention. Still a bit cringey, but I caught up on anime I've had on my lists forever, got back into binging fanfiction of said shows, and working on creative endeavors. It cleared up a lot of the brainfog I deal with often and I want to work on incorporating small detoxes more often, maybe a monthly thing so I can rely on social media apps less and less.

Setting timers or deleting the apps (or switching browsers/clearing history so you don't go to those sites as often as you usually do)
Redirecting your attention to other sites or hobbies you've neglected (drawing, writing, painting, video essays, studying, working out, walking the dog etc)
Make time (since you have it now hehe) to do things outside your schedule you've been wanting to do like visit the local library, go to the dr or dentist, spend time with friends and really focus on deepening those relationships

I had a lot of fun offline and it was super refreshing! Highly recommend it!

Doc

Mercury

Mercury Doomscrolling keeps a sort of basic sense of boredom at bay,

I think it is a lot more insidious than that. Scrolling through constantly updating websites guarantees that you'll find some good content eventually purely because you are going past hundreds of posts. It's a lot like casinos, eventually you will win if you play long enough. The problem is you'll only remember the few funny posts you see and forget all of the crappy ones you spent two seconds on. With casinos you can very clearly see the money going down despite a win every once in a while. You can't see that when it comes to time because it is constantly dwindling down. That is why you can clearly see casinos as a waste and not whatever sites you are on for four hours a day,

Mercury I guess the best thing to do would be to recognize this anxiety as an illusion and learn to be okay with it?

I do not believe the anxiety is an illusion, For me, once I am on the computer without a purpose the anxiety starts to feel warranted. I think it would be reasonable to be on a computer most of the day, as long as it is being productive. I don't think it is reasonable to be on it just because it is the easiest thing to do. If there is something that you want to do and it requires effort, but you would rather browse some sites for easy dopamine the anxiety is warranted.

Radiant

How long do people who are internet fasting typically fast for? I managed to go a week without in college but lately I've been trying to just go the first hour or hour and a half of the day without internet and see how it works.

Doc

Radiant How long do people who are internet fasting typically fast for?

As far as I have heard, people that do internet fasts do them the last two or three hours of the day because it can help them sleep, or in the morning for the same amount of time to be as productive as possible. Doing a fast that goes for days or weeks isn't done too often outside of the first time, for blog content, or vacations.

TINT I lived for about 2 years completely without any internet,

How was it for those two years, and what kind of job did you have that didn't need it?

TINT the way HOW we use the internet is what truly matters

This is one of the most important things to understand about anything. Any sort of tool or activity used the wrong way can be malicious. The internet is a wonderful thing and can be much better than books for learning or self improvement. The problem is that almost no one ever uses it for that purpose. It's much easier to use it for short videos that don't ask you to think.

TINT I already see, that even here are social media mechanics like the thumb up/down buttons.

Aren't forums one of the more original social media sites?
Anyway I would not worry about things like that here. I haven't seen anyone fishing for thumbs up or any of the other things that plague more well known social media sites.

TINT

I lived for about 2 years completely without any internet, because I believed the internet itself is the problem. Now I realized, that the way HOW we use the internet is what truly matters. The age of cheap broadband internet is the age of permanent endless digital intoxication. I believe, our brains were never meant to handle this much stimulation. I am an internetfreak, I always was one. But I stopped watching videos and playing videogames entirely. I stay away from all these corposites like Reddit, Youtube, Steam etc. The internet can be quiet place, you don't need all this loud multimedia noise to fight your boredom. I'm not sure how long I will stay on this site, because I already see, that even here are social media mechanics like the thumb up/down buttons.

TINT

Doc Aren't forums one of the more original social media sites?
Anyway I would not worry about things like that here. I haven't seen anyone fishing for thumbs up or any of the other things that plague more well known social media sites.

I think you underestimate the harmfulness of modern gamification mechanisms. The old forums didn't have these mechanisms, and that's why each post stood on its own. I found this forum because I believe it represents a counter-proposal to corpo platforms like Reddit. But maybe I was mistaken. If this forum continues to maintain these harmful social media mechanisms, then I will leave soon, because I don't need Reddit 2.0.

Doc

TINT I think you underestimate the harmfulness of modern gamification mechanisms.

You may be right. I know some of them are extremely bad like with Facebook games. I only think reddit is bad with the gamification because of it's culture. It all centers around bad puns, giving milquetoast opinions, the voting system, and pseudointellectualism. I know forums can be awful by users dick riding people with a lot of posts, and that still comes down to forum culture. As long as the userbase here decides not to care about such things as a whole, I do not see a problem with having them.
I guess it will show years down the line when small things start showing their effects.

TINT

Doc I only think reddit is bad with the gamification because of it's culture.

The culture of Reddit is the direct result of gamification. Redditors behave the way they do, exactly because of the entire upvote/downvote system. You say, we should trust the userbase of this forum, not to engage in reddit tier behaviour. But it is actually the design of the platform, which is controlling the way people behave. The good thing about this forum is atleast, that posts are sorted chronologically and not by upvotes.

Doc

TINT The culture of Reddit is the direct result of gamification.

That's a great point. The huge importance redditors put on the upvote system is cancerous, and that is because the upvote system determines everything.

TINT the design of the platform, which is controlling the way people behave.

All I can say about this is "don't let the program determine how you play".
I'm still optimistic that this place won't turn into Reddit. The other thing Reddit has that we have neglected to talk about is the moderators that censor anything against the grain.

TINT

Doc The other thing Reddit has that we have neglected to talk about is the moderators that censor anything against the grain.

I don't believe, that there will ever be an actual free speech platform. This is because every platform is run by people and everyone has their personal interests which they will try to protect. Example: If you run a platform and I'm going to dox you in the name of free speech, you certainly won't accept what I do. This is just an extreme example, but this is the principle how it works. If Lumen decides for some reason that my posts deserve to be deleted, yeah it is his right to do so. If I think he is overreacting, I'm free to move somewhere else.

Doc

TINT I don't believe, that there will ever be an actual free speech platform. This is because every platform is run by people and everyone has their personal interests which they will try to protect.

There is only one way it can happen, if someone hosted a forum or such other on the darkweb and just let there be no moderation. It wouldn't last long, but it would work for a period of time. It could possibly work long term if absolutely no pictures could be posted, as it would be harder to take down a forum that only has text.

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