El Blog

Man, its Monday yet again. And before I decided to begin writing I was going through many things here on the Interbuttz. I saw that I have comments :( but I also saw Other Blogs. Other peoples blogs are so cool. I swear, mine has to be some of the ones that look boring with nothing but letters. Oh well, as I have said before this place is only for me to vent my thoughts.
A dude I know, (well half-ass know), added me on Facebook. I will call him, "4" so I ask him who he was. He kindly responds to tell me over Facebook chat that he we knew each other from a certain page. I finally remembered, it was around three years ago. Back when I had nothing else to do. I was most of the time surfing the webs. And like any other teen, well I did my share of "research" (wink). But that was not what took up most of my time, nope. I was at the time addicted to this page where we posted things about say, "Rugby". It was fun, it kept me busy, I learned the meaning of trolling, failing, etc... By the year I had acquired the reputation of a respectable, yet interesting dude. I was quite happy living like this. Having two personalities. (Although my "avatar" was very similar to how I behaved in real life.) But I started to notice that other users where really affected by this online phenomena. They really took it to heart. Huge arguments came and went, people left never to share their opinions; but I always stayed the same. Yes, I must say that a few times I did change my name but always left clues so that the people who knew me knew that it was me. I certainly had fun just messing around with other people like me. Then came the time where I was really passionate about something else, something that really existed. I left the place for a good time. There still existed the time when I had time and joined in the Chat room. This is where what I had seen on the Ruby page reinforced. I saw kids online for more than twelve hours. Obsessed with online games.
These games consisted of the chatters just randomly typing things that had no real contribution to any real topic. Well anyways this friend of mine, 4, always rooted for this team of his.
The beginning goal for the Chat room was to chat freely about Rugby. But then everyone got bored and being the kids that everyone was, we all messed around.
I sometimes played along. But to be honest, things became very disappointing.
These individuals called their fellows "Friends", it was as if in fact they thought everything was real.
Long story short, "friendships" came and went, disputes over imaginary things came also. Everything in fact was imaginary, nothing was ever real.
What started as a past time for some, became life for them. That second personality became the dominant, they seemed to believe themselves.
Dignity was depleted for some.
The internet is one of the most dangerous weapons in our time, especially for teens.
I really hope that if someone ever reads this they reflect upon their life. And of how they manage their time, does life revolve around their online life?
These social pages and chat rooms, etc. can consume time, and in essence our lives.
Yes, they are helpful; but if used in excess; they can practically take over our minds.
Psychologists should examine such behavior, I know that I am not one for sure, but I am already writing about these experiences in an effort that someone can relate to and see for themselves the problem.
I am Dave, and I am a recovering Internet addict.

Please share your thoughts below, Thanks :)