After some discussion with my friend Chris recently — partly inspired by my recent post on mobile phone apathy — I've made the not particularly difficult decision to try and "unplug" as much as possible from the general noise of the Internet in 2017.
And I'm talking about more than just stepping away from Twitter and Facebook like I have done a few times in the past, as positive as those experiences turned out to be for me. I'm talking about a pretty thorough purge, and a return to a simpler, quieter life with fewer external stressors.
You see, the allure of the Internet and its ability to connect people from all over the world has kind of worn off somewhat for me. The last few years have demonstrated that there are a significant number of people out there who are more interested in conflict, oneupmanship and narcissism than actual meaningful interaction. The fall from grace of the games press — and many game journalists' pretty much unveiled hatred of their audiences — is just one of many examples of this, but the overall negativity that infuses what feels like the vast majority of online communications these days is just proving to be more trouble than it's worth.
I don't need that. It's not adding anything to my life — nothing good, anyway — so, I figure, why continue to put up with it? There's no need to.
As such, starting on New Year's Day, I'm going to begin a process of unplugging as much as I possibly can. Twitter and Facebook are both going completely, since the annoyance both of those bring to my life far outweighs the benefits of both of them. More significantly, I'm planning on ditching the smartphone age in favour of an older, simpler phone that doesn't bug me every five minutes with updates and notifications. At this point, I'm strongly considering picking up a second-hand N-Gage I've seen on Amazon, since that has the added benefit of being an underappreciated and increasingly rare gaming platform as well as a phone I very much enjoyed using when I originally had one.
I'm also going to draw my time with this blog to a close. I'm satisfied with what I've achieved here since I started, but the time has come to move on. I'm not going to give up regular writing, mind you; I'm still going to post weekly articles over on MoeGamer, since those have a clear focus, and I'm also intending to start a weekly TinyLetter as a more private, more personal substitute for my daily updates here. I'll post details on how to sign up for that towards the end of the year, so those of you who want to continue to follow what I'm up to can do so.
I'll be keeping more personal means of communication open. My email address and Google Hangouts accounts will still be active, as will my gaming accounts on Steam, Xbox Live and PSN. But the shouting into the void that is public social media will, hopefully, become a thing of the past. It's no longer enjoyable, useful or fun, so I have no need for it.
I'm not going to put my personal email, Google Hangouts and gaming account addresses in this post for obvious reasons, but if you are interested in staying in touch via any of these means, please feel free to drop me a line via my Contact page explaining who you are and how you know me. If we've chatted before in the past, great, no problem; if we've never spoken before, however, please do include a bit about yourself in your message.
That's the plan, then. And I anticipate that it will lead to a happier, more peaceful and less stressful 2017 for me. At least I hope it does, anyway!
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Awww gutted! I quite enjoy your updates and seeing what you're up to. I'm just not very good at commenting, my little monster keeps distracting me lol Hope you're well and good on you for doing the mobile/internet purge.
Gracie
I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog posts, but of course I understand that you gotta do what’s necessary to keep yourself healthy and sane. Merry Christmas, and I hope 2017 works out well for you.
If you are in the mood for some more structured writing at some point next year I’d be pretty interested in reading your modern impressions of the N-Gage and any games you play on it (no pressure, of course!). I’ve always found it to be a really unique system with some interesting games, but there is surprisingly little in-depth coverage of it on the internet. If you could get your hands on the port of Xanadu Next that might make a good MoeGamer article?
Yes, I'm very interested to take a look at Xanadu Next on it! I had forgotten it came out on N-Gage until a browse for games earlier today. Copies are going for a premium, it seems, but I kind of want to get my hands on one now.
Waaaahhhh!!!! …. I do beg your pardon – just an initial cry of woe! I feel a bit devo that you won't be there every day with your mixed bag of communications. That's what I find really interesting – how mixed the blogs are. It means I never know what I'm going to find when I open WordPress. An Angst one, an RPG one, an IT one, a pithy review of the latest dill game writer or gaming marketing ploy …. and apart from that Mate I believe you are a mate of mine. I care about you and Andie n your menagerie n your health n your work situations. Please link me into your new site when its formed – you have my email address, feel free to contact me – have a great Xmas n New Year together n kiss your Pusspusses for me. I miss mine. N wish your Dad n Mum Merry Xmas n New Year for me to – though I could do that on Twitter I guess. I mostly use that for keeping in touch with the art communities. By the way I'm having a solo art exhibition in April at the Observatory at the Gravity/Cosmos Centre, Gingin Perth WA – they have a website. My artworks – all Galactic/Cosmic will be housed in with the telescopes under the retracting roof so will have great lighting during the day – it will be protected from the elements though. I am working steadily on huge shaped canvases to get them all done in time. Hope to hear from you soon my friend. Take care.
Gosh. Good luck with the purge. I can fully understand your reasoning behind it. This blog has been the first site I check each day for a while now. I don't always read each post, but if I'm always interested to see if it's something of interest, if you know what I mean. What will you do with all the extra time that your pure will generate? I use my phone too much and I don't use it half as much as most people. I often feel that I need to know the trivial things I look up and often get into the cycle of checking my regular websites just in case there something new. What a waste of time. Good on you for taking decisive action.