Stealth Mode

[Diva]

I was told that the easiest way to stop someone from annoying you on the internet is to simply close the brower. But sometimes it's not that easy. I've been in debates where people 'left in a huff' and vowed never to return. Sure enough they were lurking using invisible mode, waiting for a response. I've watched people sit on threads and refresh over and over, waiting for the response. Are we that addicted to the net that even negative experiences feed the desire? Would you be able to walk away from a debate and never look back, even to read?

A couple of years ago I turned off the television and disconnected the cable. I had finally had my fill of the sensationalism. To this day I only use it to watch DVDs. I dont think that I could ever shut off the computer and never log on again. Would you be able to turn off the computer and never log on again?

[Bassmama]

Yup. I've been with all kinds of electronic stuff & without- to the point of having no electric, running water,phone, or much else. Had to use an outhouse, washed out of a 1 1/2 gal. pot, only had a gas stove & wood stove. Had a LOT more time & life was much simpler.
Now- do I choose to be without? No!
SUE

[Boozer]

I dunno. I probably could, but I think I'd be missing out on a lot. I've made a lot of friends online (especially here), and I'd miss them.

That being said, I think things would be a lot easier if we actually had to rely on our natural resources than on everything being readily available at the click of a mouse, or the swipe of a credit card.

[Jake]

I agree, Boozer. One of the few things that kept me going was being able to come back here and make sure that y'all were all right. I missed my lil' Red. ;)

[Lilith]

I was once very active on a blog-community website, and had lots of friends there. At some point I was mistreated and insulted, as well as betrayed by some members there. I have walked out of that website and never came back. It's been over two years, and to this day I have not been back there--even though one of the people in question sent me an apology via a common friend.

I have left a message board I'd been active on for close to a year--and only came back later because the admin asked me to. I don't post "I QUIT" messages, but if I say I am out of a debate, I am out of it, though I might come back and read it later--I won't reply. If I leave a site, I just leave--and do not come back, anonymous or not.

I have also left people that way--and never tried to contact them after that. I guess it applies to all aspects of life, as far as I am concerned.

[thestarsfall]

NO, i wouldnt, unless i suddenly became interested in other things (got in a band etc)....but since im not anywhere close to it i dont think i could just turn off the computer.....theres too much stuff on the internet that i like......same with tv....i have 2 shows that are my faves and they make those nights of the week just better.....

[Aracat]

As far as TV is concerned, network tv can burn and die for all I care.

Internet is a tricky one, because I can deal without it, but it just makes having a computer more fun (an interesting one for broadband users- what if it was reduced to 56k speeds?). I have plenty of stuff to amuse myself with offline.

Without the computer though, I would probably go crazy for lack of stuff do do. Even in public schools, teachers are relying on computers more and more (given my handwriting, they should be thankful..)

[JakeD]

Originally posted by Aracat
(an interesting one for broadband users- what if it was reduced to 56k speeds?)

UUUUGH!

When I dragged Diva to the backwoods of East Texas to meet my family, we were forced to use AOL and a connection that couldn't handle over 33.6 kbps. I was about to go insane, and she was already eating the paint off the walls. It sucked. But then again, it was nice to spend time together and with my family and friends rather than online......

[Assassin13]

Hah!

28.8 kbps is that fastest I can get at home. Read 'em and weep

I think I could but a) I would miss my friends and b) I would have to find something else to fill the time and would end up becoming more of a bilbiophile

[Lilith]

Nothing wrong with being a bibliophile!

I think I will be somewhat more scarce on the net after my move--I won't have hours and hours at work to sit on forums, and won't need to be on the net to talk to my sweetie. ;) I'll still be around to talk to all of my other friends though--that's the price for making friends all around the world: you can't move to be near ALL of them!

*waits for plane tickets to get cheaper yet so she could fly over here and there to visit friends over weekends*

[kittyroze]

I gotta say, I'd be lost without my internet buddies. I've had friends online since I was thirteen...and honestly, once I was in Montana, the only way I could find like-minded people was to hop online and meet friends that way. I love you guys!

[xplosiv]

I could easily just walk away from my pc, but i wouldnt do that, i used to chat in one cirtain chat room, i'd DJ music n this n that, and where on an unmoniterd chat site you had script kid's making boots all the time, the booting of friends and myself became unbarable, as did the supposed to be friends, and their backstabbing & bein 2 faced n generally wankers. but did i leave, no ... well i did heh ... but i left with style and took out the chat server's ( this was before you needed too DDoS, and just DoS would do the job ) so yeah i took out the chat servers, voice chat servers, then for within the last few mins of the servers being ok, ppl watched me infect my pc with a dead bitchy virii code. i only came back on once i calmed down and spent many hours debugging my pc and gettin it workin again, but all in all i left for around 4 month's and i havnt been back to the place since, that was 4 years ago ... when i did get back online i had so many e-mails from back at the time asking why they couldnt log onto chat ( as not every one person that i talked to from that room was online at the time it happened ) ... i also had mail's askin where i was n blah blah, evan now theres only 2 people i still talk to from that place, the rest went to hell in my mind ( for the record - the servers were down for 3 days ) but yeah, maybe not so drasticly now, but i could definately leave, and if im screwed over, i'll screw over that person so bad they would wish they never got on my bad side.