(photo from her, first seen on Gala Darling)
Hello!
I’m back from a trip to clear my head and at the same time, to spend quality time with a dear friend. Trips are always the best antidote to uninspiration and I’m back feeling refreshed and ready to write away again (:
I’m posting the above photo, which is taken in Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Room, because I’ve been trying to clear my Google Reader and I am getting so bored of reading blogs. Whatever I read (for the fashion genre) fall into two general categories: personal style vs. fashion news.
While it does kill time, I find that fashion news are generally repeated. For example, I’ve been reading a lot of coverage on The Uniform Project. It’s a really great idea, I love it! But when I read it for the fifth time I get pretty bored of it.
I read a lot of personal style blogs too, but sometimes after reading and ‘getting’ the person’s style, you get kind of bored from it too. Like I really like reading the Rumi, Camille, Lulu blogs but after some time I stop clicking for two weeks… and then I read them all at once.
I think I spend so much time on the Internet that my attention span is decreasing constantly to the point where I need to be excited every time I click on a new page. If I don’t, I feel disappointed and bored.
My solution to this is to schedule a day every week to be totally offline. I take my journal, sit in a quiet cafe and write my thoughts away. I work on paper instead of on screen. I’m also working hard not to write out of ‘bloggers guilt’, but to write only with quality content.
Are you suffering from Internet overdependence? Do you constantly feel a need to read blogs or your Google Reader, or check out blogshops daily? If you didn’t get online for a day or two, do you feel like a part of your life is missing?
Let’s see how dependent the citizens on Fashion Nation are to the Web. (;
Your fellow Internet addict
Stephie
10 Comments
July 3, 2009, 2:26 am, at 2:26 am
it comes in waves! i hate it when my googlereader builds up and i feel i have to go through 1000+ posts- that definitely gets you down! but looking at a few throughout the day in a non pressured way is the only way to survive! blogging has to be a sideline gig, not a pressure
July 3, 2009, 7:05 am, at 7:05 am
Oh, yes, yes, yes!!!
I’ve become such an addict.
I just keep adding and adding more and more blogs in my reader, it’s come to the point where i have 300 posts to read per day, and it’s getting unbearable…
The problem is that it’s hard to make myself delete a feed, even if the blog has become boring, I feel like I might miss something interesting if I don’t follow it…
And all I do is scroll super fast through the posts (which is what I’m doing lately with pretty much every blog, just like you said you get bored, and need the exciting stuff, so i just throw a glance, and scroll, scroll away…)
And if I don’t read it for a few days, it’s not that much that I miss it, but the number of unread posts becomes bigger and bigger and that turnes into pressure…
I just keep postponing the big feed clean-up, but I know I should do it ASAP…
Especially when I think of numbers that will wait for me after a two week vacation I’ll soon go on – without the internet…
July 3, 2009, 9:53 am, at 9:53 am
*nods to that*
people tend to pick up on the same kinda fashion news so it gets repeated on different blogs
after awhile even personal style blogs can get uninspiring too
the antidote really is to go offline but for many it’s hard because we have become so dependent on technology
that said i think travelling really opens your eyes and makes you reflect…puts a fresh spin on things and inspires you to change. the way you do things.
blogging should always come naturally, and if that means taking some time away from your blog to think, then so be it:)
July 3, 2009, 10:36 am, at 10:36 am
the “normal postings continue below” thing is not working….i keep visiting and leaving after seeing the LG entry, thinking there are no updates (im sure other people have done this too..)
so i suggest you change your layout or add a banner or think of something else..
July 3, 2009, 10:50 am, at 10:50 am
Omg you guys are totally voicing out my blog addiction!
Once I was on holiday in Singapore and stayed with a friend but I couldn’t figure out his broadband at home. I honestly felt stricken and cut-off, so I took a nap and he returned just in time to help me get connected.
Stephie: I will take a leaf from you and head to cafe without touching the Internet at least a day (or a few hours?) a week.
July 3, 2009, 11:30 am, at 11:30 am
I’ve been inside the infinity room and it’s amazing, there is another version with fairy lights and it really makes you into a awe-struck child all over again.
July 3, 2009, 4:01 pm, at 4:01 pm
oui oui oui.
im online 24/7 (other than sleeping) and i browse etsy, blogshops, fashion blogs daily to spend my time with.. my gmail is on everyday and i reply emails prompty and swiftly -.- my bf cant stand the time i spend with my constant companion (the laptop) and me myself think sometimes its a little too much.. I remember i was holidaying and was still hoping i could probably check my gmail for a few mins to see if i missed out any nice clothings from my regular blogshops
sigh. thats how bad it is.
i think i should start taking a day off too and suffer from some withdrawals. Im sure the world out there with the fresh air will do me good!
cheerios
July 3, 2009, 6:01 pm, at 6:01 pm
I’ve started to get the same thoughts recently – I work on the screen to much as I also write for an online magazine and sometimes it feels horrible that blogging can anly be done through a computer. Taking a book to read or a solid diary to write in seems so much more pleasing sometimes…
I love that photographs of the infinity room! It’s such a wonder, I haven’t heard of it before, to be honest.
July 4, 2009, 10:33 am, at 10:33 am
totally an internet addict.
i have to put myself in “rehab” such as constantly remind myself to get out of the house to grab lunch or coffee, stand up and go to the kitchen to make lunch, find a reason to go to the library or cleaning up my room.
The fashion blogosphere is endless, I can’t help but to be glued to my seat in front of my desktop which sometimes makes me realized how unhealthy it can be. Still, we need to take a rest for our eyes, go out for some fresh air and sweat it out for a while.
July 6, 2009, 10:53 pm, at 10:53 pm
Hi Stephie,
Must say that it’s so true. And it does feel unhealthy, very much. It’s even infringing on my attention span at reading long passages be it books, or online texts! I’m liking your idea of taking a day offline to be internet-less