“Wang Yiming, 21, is a self-confessed internet addict, one of a growing number in China. He used to spend hours online each day, often going without food or sleep. His face is drawn and sallow,” writes BBC’s Daniel Griffiths. “He said addiction changed his whole life.”
China has opened its first Internet addiction clinic. Um, what in the hell is that on that kid’s head? (Is this an “either it’ll kill you or cure you” kinda treatment? The caption says: “The clinic provides medical treatment and therapy.”)
Perhaps more pertinent to, um, BooTribbers: “A new study [from AdAge.com] shows that workers will ‘waste’ 551,000 work years reading and posting to blogs,” notes Alternet PEEK’s Evan Derkacz.
Sounding suspiciously defensive, Evan Derkacz adds:
Granted, blogs can be drivel. But they can also be a shining example of participatory democracy; the grand conversation. They can be mindless blather but they can be a pinprick of sanity in a mechanical existence. In other words, they can be anything. It’s just people writing and reading folks.
… But for the number of people I’ve seen who read the comics, do the crossword, chatter on the cell phone, gossip in the kitchenette… Employers ought to be glad their employees may be honing their writing and becoming more knowledgeable about something…
Hip, hip, hooray, Evan! You’ve given me new arguments! My motley bunch of relatives — save my daughter — either don’t care that I blog or think it’s a complete waste of time, refusing to read a single thing I write.
How many of you have avocations or professions that most everyone thinks are rather a waste of time, or of no worth?
I’ve given up on mentioning my blogging to my family, except for my daughter. I finally got the courage to send a URL to my thoughtful, funny next-door neighbor Pat — he who gave me a huge bag of dog food so I could keep feeding the raccoons we all love and enjoy.
Pat came over the other day and gave me a book. He said he’d found it in his closet. It was a novel by longtime Newsweek reporter Arnaud de Borchgrave.
Pat said, “I thought I should give it to you because you’re a journalist.” (I’ll never forget those words.) And so are all of you — including all of you who don’t put up diaries but who post your incredibly interesting and thoughtful comments. What do others think of your blogging?
how dare they try to cure people of their blogging addiction. Communists will try any dirty trick, I tell you.
without food?
No way! I do forget to eat for a while sometimes, but if you turned over my keyboard and shook it out — as I sometimes do — there’ll be a pound of bread and cookie crumbs come tumbling out.
Just because you don’t work for a newspaper or get paid to do what you do doesn’t alter that fact. Writers write. Artists create art. Whether they are published or have their work shown in a gallery has no bearing on who they are and what they do.
And let’s look at the word “journalist” while we’re at it. Notice how it’s an extension of the word “journal” which is just a fancy word for “diary.” So in many respects you and Boo are more truly journalists than the reporters at NYT or WaPo because you share your impressions of daily news and events.
Thank you! And thanks for yet more fodder for our arguments to prove ourselves worthy.
And you! you’re pretty damn fine, yourself.
Participatory Democracy….never would have become so active or informed without the blogs. And hey, I am an addict anyway. Better blogging than drinking or drugging.
I have few folks in my intimate circle of family and friends that even knoew what a blog was until I told them. Most still think it’s more like a “chat” room and I should be careful who I “chat” with. LOL
Ha! You shouldn’t have told them about all the orgy diaries 🙂
Re information — me too! I so wish I’d had this when i was a teen, and was so hungry for information, and found it so difficult to gain access to all the magazines and newspapers I wanted to read.
It’s like a secret vice. My wife thinks it is a TOTAL waste of time and energy. Don’t tell her I posted this! ; ) But keep up the good work! I’m sure I’m like many ‘lurkers’ here, who read far more than we post. This is an essential aspect of our democracy, unquestionably.
Both….addiction – need to info – need the similar contacts (addicts hang out together? lol). Participatory democracy – yep – we did make a difference in 2000 and 2004…we didn’t win everything we wanted but we damn well made the politicos pay attention.
Family? Friends? Blogging? rofl….absolutely none of my non-blog friends read my stuff, care what I do or say…heck most of them don’t know what blogs are! The cool thing is I’ve made some great friends that started in the blogosphere and are now real life!
True. Most folks don’t know about blogs and, if I bring them up, don’t get what I’m talking about or why I’m talking about them. So two worlds: “real” world and blogosphere. Oh well– no problem!
Hey, can somebody with more time than I work up something on this? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/23/AR2005102301201.html?nav=hcmodule
Cable news this morning is a complete joke! I woke up at 3am, then at 4am, and there was no Don Imus — it was hurricane non-stop on every news shannel.
Thank god for the ‘net … i was able to turn on BBC World Service radio! They’re mentioning the hurricane, of course, but are doing in-depth stories on avian flu and vaccines, etc., etc.
For the record: I’m somewhat averse to watching Don Imus but, lately, he’s had interesting guests re the CIA Leak case. … or if he’s being his usual obnoxious self, i can switch to CNN. But not this morning. C-Span was talking avian flu too.
I think that parrot in GB has scared everyone.
I’m so freaking sick of “correspondants being whipped by wind” shots and listening to them screaming into the microphone that “…it’s really windy…” that I’d just as soon watch cartoons already. I have the sound turned off. I think it’s time for Air America or BBC streaming radio.
who got sucked up and out of the frame. I heard a soft “biff” come from his mic when he hit the ground. Laughed my ASS OFF!!!!!! He seemed a tad shaken though….but not stirred, just going indoors!
That was AL ROKER from the Today Show! katie and matt were all a-tittering about it.
(He was fine.)
He was leaning on some wrought iron fence that gave way.
That photo is scary… poor kid should have kept his mouth shut. Yes, Susan, you are a journalist, don’t ever doubt that. I trust you to tell it like it is more so than most of what I read in the MSM, and that’s the truth.
People aren’t sure what the hell a blog is, and most are polite enough not to say anything too nasty in front of me. But one thing they do know… that I can back my arguments up with lots of facts, and I get those facts by blogging.
My 26yr old nephew says I’m probably the most well informed person he knows. That’s the best compliment I’ve ever gotten. I’d go outside and loudly proclaim that “I’m a blogger!”… but I’d just scare my horses. 🙂
Habituated to something harmful, or inordinately fond of something not harmful? Crazy or just silly? Leading a valuable life or wasting it?
Who is the judge? I’ve been guilty of all the above states. People forgive me, even when I try to goad them into participatory democracy. They’re interested some times, but not all.
I know the hubby doesn’t really understand what I do… but I think that’s more a creature of him trying to ween me off politics (he’s been trying since the night of the coup d’etat when I spent the whole evening crying and reading the SCOTUS decision) & he thinks the more I blog the further away from a ‘normal’ life I get.
But he was incredibly supportive of the Plame/ Gannon investigation and every once in a while swings by the computer and critiques my phrasing (never of my snark, just of my ‘serious’ pieces). 😉
Most of my other friends either don’t know, don’t care or pretend to care but it’s more the “there there, there there” variety… 😉
But then again, I’m not really doing this for a living so I suppose I shouldn’t expect too much support for my “hobby”… but I’ll show them I tell you… just you wait until one of my pieces is mentioned on PBS again!! Just you wait I tell you… and when it does then I’ll make you all sorry!! (oops… inside voice vs. outside voice issues again…)
😉
For all those who many not know, tell us the PBS story again … PLEASE! It was SO cool.
How could I turn down a request like that??
back when the Plame/ Gannon thing was breaking wide open and I posted the Summary of the timeline on dkos a whole slew of press started talking about the piece – I believe it was mentioned on CNN, etc. but after a couple of months it died down and new info started coming out so I dropped off the radar… until after the Pie wars and my diary about being the professor and not mary ann (long story, don’t worry, not pertinent to this discussion)…
All of a sudden, I’m having a nice chat with Miss Devore in the diary when she posts this comment…
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2005/6/7/171647/8642#11
Yup, a reporter for the Tribune on PBS showed a screenshot of one of my diaries while I was in the midst of a chat online about the evils of pie… hopefully it wasn’t the “Oh Whaaaaa” one is all I have to say 🙂
speaking of fame and fortune susan… it appears your blogroll is missing a link…
🙂
I don’t understand … ?
my blog… not on your list… how on earth can I take over the world if you won’t link to me 🙂
done!
A weed is defined as any plant you don’t like. Likewise, an addiction is bad when it leads to the neglect of other priorities in life that you later regret.
Addictive blogging can be bad if, later, you look back on the time as wasted, when you could be off doing something that ultimately enriches your life to a greater degree than reading and writing fleeting commentary.
But who’s to say? Obsessive behavior was once a great thing for me, earning me lots and lots of cash as a byproduct of doing something I really loved. Meanwhile, I never married or had children, didn’t vacation, smoked too much and didn’t have deep, true friendships. Do I regret it? Not really. Lucky for me, I am still healthy and have many years ahead to find new obsessions.
While blogging won’t make me a living, I find it very satisfying to be knowledgable and to share my ideas with strangers. To each his own!
do it for sanity. I know a lot of Boomers are hindered by health problems…….a scary person to be in Bush’s survival of the fittest and everybody else gets to starve to death world. How can a disabled person housebound fight the system making gestures towards offing them and being rid of them? Lot’s of people here contributing of themselves because this is the best thing they can do for themselves and with their time. Military families venting their spleen and telling the truth and becoming motivated to do things to bring about change due to the interaction they get with others in their nation and world! There are those of us who were able marched on D.C. for peace, while those who weren’t but had other things to give gave us rooms to stay in. I can go to Crawford Texas and pick up a cell phone and call in what is going on and it hits the web and CNN went back to the hotel to shower hours ago. Good God I’m about to type something horrible but………..addiction seems a bit more Koslike. Booman is more of a structured family/community/village and we really get shit done here! We really do! Susan and Boo and Catnip put stuff together that I can’t do because I’m busy being a mom. The Booman Community does works along with our diaries and photos, and Booman has been an instrument for change and for really doing something and that doesn’t equate with addiction.
My family/friends don’t read any of my writing. I’m not sure that they understand any of this although I’ve tried to explain it. I’ve even showed my Dad on a laptop that I brought to his house but he wasn’t apparently impressed even though he was mentioned in the diary. But I’ve benefitted greatly from the experience, sharing with others and learning a great deal.
not getting it. Some of my family I think gets scared about my “civil disobedience” thing and I think that there are whispers in the back rooms that I am being too emotional about my Uncle and husband, this comes from older people in my family though and I think it is from guilt. I am there niece and my mother is gone and they can’t fix what ails me and they feel some kind of guilt like they are failing. It can be a hard thing within families to come to terms with our own singularity and the different responsibilties that we all undertake and own as our own. My father is on disability now, he was always kind of a wild man when he was young and then at 28 years old had a head on with a telephone pole on horseback. He was in a coma for 26 days, fractured his skull, lived, had to learn how to walk again and had to learn his skill again. Continued on in carpentry and became a contractor but emotionally he became a teenager and he stayed there. Now he is an emotionally aging teenager. I could tell him that I’m keeping poisonous snakes and extracting the venom from them to build my self confidence and he would think it was great, just fabulous……he would talk me up to everybody.
It sounds like a difficult situation. But you’ve got lots of support here.
This type of chance to express myself has been invaluable since the 2004 election. I feel a real connection to people who are as passionate about their concerns and our mostly shared solutions for the problems that face our world.
As a US citizen living out of the country, I often feel that my voice is diminished a little. I now feel less connected to the outside world with the baby. I know very few people in the town where we live and I cannot yet take the baby across the river to Detroit. I know that had we lived in the US, that I would have run for office somewhere along the line.
There is a millage renewal vote in the school district where I teach. If it does not pass, lay-offs will occur. If I am not laid off, I could likely see class sizes of 40. At that point, I would have to really re-evaluate my career choice. The connections I have made by blogging has really inspired me. Now, I see myself writing and I have several ideas.
I haven’t really shared this with anyone. I’m not ashamed, it just doesn’t come up. Besides, I can’t talk politics without getting very heated.
Anyone who’s ever had a sleep study done can sympathize…it’s just about that bad! Plus you got something stuck under your nose and more wires on your face…
I spend so much time on the internets everyday, the husband wants to know what will come out of this in terms of $$$.
But it’s important for me to know. I think it’s a sense of perceived control….at least I know about it.
And if I could make a living, I would.
If I think I make a difference to one person, I think it’s worth it but the homefront demands otherwise….
…. according to the National Press Club.
Their membership just voted last week to add bloggers (along with full-time journalism students) as a category eligible for an associate membership in the Press Club, according to the Press Club’s weekly newsletter, the Record
Now, that membership isn’t cheap ($784/year), BUT… if you live in the DC metro area, and think you’d actually attend enough of the Press Club functions (they have fascinating speakers in all the time, ranging from foreign heads of state and ambassadors, to celebrities, to US government officials), some of which are restricted to members-only, and if you have the money, it might be worth it. (this may not be effective yet, as I know the membership form hasn’t been updated, but that’s what they decided, at least.)
my being on the Internet too much, except when he wants to use the computer; a situation to be resolved when we get the desktop system. I probably feel more guilt than anything else, especially a day like today when I’ve spent most of my time clicking “Refresh” on Google News…
Overheard at the Cali Scribe household recently:
“Hi Honey, what did you do today?”
“Oh, the usual, you know, click, refresh, repeat…”