A hypothetical: An Internet Blackout

[CapturedDoll]

I would copy and paste but it's not working. So I just screenshot what I wrote on Instagram and am going to upload it here. Picture below of my musings and question. I look forward to your responses and thoughts.

 

[WickedTouch]

Interesting question that I think a lot of people think about, but maybe for only a few seconds once in a while. I'm not sure how deep this hypothetical goes, as the Internet is less of a thing and more broad idea comprised of many things. Like, if no internet at all for real-real, it would probably bring about extreme economic collapse in many areas, catastrophic logistics failures, healthcare systems crises, etc. But if the hypothetical has more to do with the social and entertainment content of the Internet, it would affect different people differently. Many people are addicted as you described, and would suffer a lot of withdrawal effects. Very painful in the short term, but most gaining something in the long term. But many others who are balanced with theirs of it actually get a productivity boost from those resources without overindulging in self-destructive ways. There are many others who have developed their core career competencies around the platforms and would suffer great loss to business or career, while others would gain new business and career opportunities from it.

I think because the social platforms grew so quickly and were so novel to how we've evolved to communicate over human history, Many have been ill-equipped to deal with its seemingly sudden injection into our lives. I have seen unexpected trends happening, albeit slowly at first, in the youngest generations. Many are developing self-limiting skills to deal with the burdens these platforms and algorithms put on them. I expect that to continue–I certainly hope it does. I believe in the resiliency of life to adapt to its environment, no matter how unfortunately painful a process it may be in the short-term.

A few years ago, if I had a magic "shut off social media for 1 year" button, I think I would have pushed it–not quickly or without thought, but I think I would have. Now, I'm not so sure.

 

[SheDevil]

Sounds miserable. The internet is so much more than soulless social media. It helps people manage their social lives, their work lives, and acts as the infrastructure for our growing global economy.

 

[Tickaler]

Sounds miserable. The internet is so much more than soulless social media. It helps people manage their social lives, their work lives, and acts as the infrastructure for our growing global economy.

Agree with the miserable aspect, given everything else the internet provides.

I would be all for a social media blackout. However, as stated by previous posts, the internet generally provides so many needed services, such as online billing, tracking of finances, email communication, phone calls over wifi, like skype or whatsapp etc. I guess we could always go back to the EDI from the 80s lol (Electronic Data Interchange) for paying our bills, but I would miss much of the convenience the digital world has provided us.

Nerdy link here, but here is the great author, Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End, 2001 Space Odyssey), who predicted so many things about the internet age, back in 1964, and then again in 1974:

 

[duderino84]

I posted on "Le Gram" a while back, but I looked at things from a socioeconomic perspective that if it didn't tear the country apart that it could make people bond.

I think in retrospect my not really facing my personal glitch of being more forward facing with people held me back, so maybe it would put me in a position to grow. With work seeming more and more like a clown mirror image of the film "1984", maybe common sense would return to the work world.

I know a lot of industries ranging from gaming to music recall the old methods fondly in comparison to an online model where everything seems to be endorsing remote access. Plenty of people seem to cherish the old days of "boxed software".

I know that the theme is basically getting people to get out and "fuck around" more, but all the internet has introduced is more of a sentiment of "fuck around and find out".

 

[BlasterMaster]

Basically what WickedTouch and She-Devil said. There would be a lot of bad that would occur with a total internet blackout world wide but it wouldn't be the end. I'm not sure what kind of disaster could cause a world wide internet blackout mind you. The only possible thing I can think of is an atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device over a populated area but that does a LOT MORE than just shut down the internet (aka it basically shuts down every electronic device within miles of the detonation).

 

[Titillating 2.0]

My best guess would be a cyber attack or natural phenomenon that screws with radar so much that the Internet routers completely shut down. Either that or they’re rendered practically useless, which would such regardless. While I’d like to believe that no Internet for a while would cause people to reflect and maybe become better people, I’m afraid it would only cause total chaos as the system has become too dependent

 

[wolfman40]

I think things like lockdown proved, there is an air of resilience and camaraderie still abound.

Being old, I remember the days before the internet and having 3 tv channels.

There was a kids tv programme here called why don't you

It's main premise was for kids to turn off the tv set and go out and do something less boring instead, like foraging and orienteering and basically moving there lazy asses.

Maybe it should be updated for the techie world, put down your cell phone and like, go for a walk or something