Mini Project 1

The very first time I remember seeing a chat room was when I was 14 –quite old—and yet I can’t even remember: What was life like before the Internet?!
It was a lot harder than I thought to track my Internet access. It is such a part of my daily life that I don’t notice it at all… I had to keep a log by my P.C. (for home logging) and in my backpack (for away logging). I would sometimes be on-line for 20 or so minutes before I realized I was even on-line—it was like awaking from a zombie-like sleepwalk—What am I doing? How did I get here?
I started tracking myself in cyber space on Sunday, January 22nd. A not-so-normal day for me, I didn’t log on until 2 p.m., which I attribute to the fact that my husband didn’t have to get up early for class and we spent some time together making breakfast (yes, breakfast at noon!) and so on. I hit my normal sites for about fifteen minutes—my three email accounts (one I’ve had since I was 18 which is like a file cabinet of my life, another I have for spam control—to order things and sign up for things, and my webmail account for school-related stuff), the news headlines and weather on myyahoo!, my bank account, and facebook. This first cyberstop of my morning is usually just like 15 minutes, as it was today, to give me my little “fix” for the morning and make sure there is nothing super-important going on in the world (or my life) that I should know about. I logged on again at 3:30 p.m. for two hours, this time to put two collectible Italian dolls on e-bay (one my grandmother’s, one mine). I spent another hour responding to some students’ emails I had read in the morning and checking my professors’ websites to get ready for the week. I printed some poetry from e-reserve and did a library search for some books. In the evening, I signed on once again to check on my dolls, and get my “night fix” (the same sites, basically that I visit in the morning).
On Monday, after my “morning fix ” (this time at 10 a.m., which is more typical for me), I spent some time uploading my SPN 1115 PowerPoint to my Yahoo Briefcase and then ordered some clearance Christmas décor (woohoo!) from Poterrybarn.com. All of this took about an hour. In the afternoon—in my office—I checked all of my normal websites again and sent a couple emails. At about midnight, I had my night fix.
Tuesday was my birthday , so it was not the most common day for me. Breakfast in bed and gift-opening (way to go, Alberto!) postponed my morning fix until about 1 p.m. I was out all day and night, so I only checked mail again once at a friend’s house and then had my night fix around midnight.
On Wednesday, I logged on at around 10 a.m., and after my normal websites, spent 30 minutes cleaning out my yahoo mail (I have a problem with not deleting things right away, and I keep emails that are special to me—I have 300 in my inbox!) and then spent an hour entering my students’ emails into my address book on webmail. I worked on my PowerPoint with my messenger open—just to see when I got a new email—for about 30 minutes and then uploaded it to my briefcase. In the afternoon, I spent about two hours reading on-line articles for tifle, and at around 1 a.m., had my night fix.
Thursday morning, starting around 9 (after the normal fix), was occupied by my job search. I googled my way through positions, filled out on-line applications, and found a telephone number to check up on some materials. I then spent all day, minus short breaks for food and a shower, researching for my comprehensive exams and preparing a ficha for our meeting that afternoon at 4 p.m. I had my night fix at 12:30 am.
Friday and Saturday were typical weekend days for me. I spent less time on the net for school and more time for leisure. I researched Disney tickets, updated my facebook, checked email and eBay way too much, and a little time checking for jobs and researching for class. My night and morning fixes were still in place.
Being without the Internet, I have found, is like being in the middle of the jungle—I feel very isolated and like I don’t know what’s going on out in the world—not just news-wise, but with my friends, with my T.V. shows, everything! I think that I use the Internet more when I am alone—for this very reason that it can make you feel less lonely. I am not a big chatter—I will have my yahoo messenger open while I am on my P.C. just to see if I get an email, but I am proud to say that I don’t IM the day or night away—ever. I do, however, waste a lot of time on the Internet—hence the zombie-like state mentioned above. I check email over and over throughout the day, I got very obsessed this week with checking my dolls on eBay, etc. Getting on-line is usually the first thing I do when I wake up and the last thing I do before going to sleep. This really disturbs me, as I think those two moments should reflect the priorities in one’s life. I read way more emails than I send—this week I received more than 50 (that weren’t spammy) and sent only 9. I am very bad about getting back to people, which I need to work on.
But even though I waste some time, the Internet is also a huge time-saver and convenient tool for me. I pay my bills, keep in touch with my professors and students, and do research for class. Overall, I use the Internet more for business-y interaction than for meaningful interaction. I touch base with my family and friends, share “news” and upcoming plans via the net, but never chat, and I save “real” conversations for the phone or snail mail. I don’t think I could ever keep a real on-line journal; I am very attached to my paper one and also a private person! Flogs, however, are right up my alley, as I like sharing pictures with family and friends. Even though I use the net more when I am alone, I try not to let it replace reality. Just like with my phone and T.V., I fight the obsession and try to only and use it at my convenience, not let it interrupt my real life, but enrich it by allowing it to save me time, etc. I had a friend in college who could never do anything else if E.R. was on—how depressing! I don’t ever want a form of technology to rule my personal life in that way.