Try and do a full day without the internet? Completely cut off from news updates, live football scores and social media? Let’s just in at the deep end.
Before getting into bed, I block the internet from my laptop and switch off both Wi-Fi and mobile data from my phone. This’ll be interesting.
10.00 – Waking up
Naturally, I enjoy catching up on the news while I eat my breakfast – as I’m sure others do. And it is here where I hit my first hurdle. I’m greeted by a lifeless, white screen with; ‘’BBC News cannot access any online content as no internet connection has been detected. Please check your connection and try again’’ etched across.
A quick sprint to the corner shop is in order as the kettle boils.
12.07 – Struggling to find Hot Rat Records
Word has reached my ear that there’s a great little record shop near the bus station that I apparently, just have to check out. After wandering around for 10 minutes, I’m struggling to make any noticeable progress.
I’m embarrassed to admit how long I waited for my navigation app to load, but alas I had to ask for directions.
15.10 – It’s Football Day!
Macclesfield Town away to Lincoln; hardly a game to capture the hearts of the nation but I was interested in the outcome nonetheless.
My usual university routine would be to tune into an online radio station and keep up to date with our performance via twitter. As this wasn’t possible today (why couldn’t I have tried this on a Sunday?) I spent a few minutes fiddling with my clock radio before admitting defeat, ringing my dad and relying on half time and full time reports. The tension and mystery of not knowing was unbearable
21.40 – Night Out Preparations
As the moon rises
high about my home,
It’s getting quite late
with no texts sent to my phone.
By this time, I’m usually three or four drinks into my evening and almost ready to call for a taxi. But as the night ticks on, my silent phone is deafening and it doesn’t look like much is happening tonight. I eventually ring a friend and the conversation goes as follows:
‘’Hey! We going out tonight?’’
‘’Yeh man. We’re all at Flat 29. Didn’t you see?’’
‘’See what?’’
‘’There’s a post about pre-drinks on the wall. Get yourself down here! We’re leaving soon.’’
Phone goes down. Shower turns on. And I manage to get ready and get out in less than 15 minutes. I can’t wait for normality to be resumed tomorrow.
Originally, I didn’t think cutting out the internet for a day would affect me too much. It isn’t too long since I got my first phone (a handsome Nokia 3310 which would not break no matter how many times I dropped it,) and the internet was only available through dial-up on the family computer.
But this experiment has shown how much I truly do rely on the connectivity and access to things outside my circle. Not only has using Twitter to check the football scores and certain apps to catch up with world news become part of my daily routine, but I have become completely reliant on them.
It’s now got to a point where I see buying a newspaper as unnatural, asking for directions as embarrassing and I’ve learnt I’m unable to tune into a certain station through a radio to listen to football commentary – all acts that a person just 10 years my elder would have no problem completing. Even arranging hanging out with friends is now so centred around social media that if you don’t check up on it, chances are you’ll be left behind instead of being sent a courtesy text.
It’s fortunate the internet is here to stay because not only has it made our lives easier, but completely radicalised how we perform certain tasks to a point that we would be lost without it.
Entertainment Yesterday 