It seems to me that now would be a great time to unplug from the Internet. I guess I’m falling for whatever the name for the slow information movement is. The more I’m deluged with RSS feeds and blogs and podcasts the more I want to put my head someplace else. But that’s not really feasible on many levels. The fact remains that we are an information based society. If you haven’t heard the latest from the Twitter stream then you’re completely out of the loop.
I think about my vacation strategy at times like these. I used to select where I went on vacation by the amount of connectivity it had. If I could find a hotel with no phones I would take it. The fewer cell towers the better. Now that’s almost impossible despite what the major carriers say about one another. The fact is my phone will ring in most places if I let it. What I think a lot of people are seeing now is that in the same way that I want to control access to my time while I’m on vacation we all want to control access to our attention on a daily basis.
It seems like a silly problem. It’s really, really easy to put the computer down or turn it off. We don’t have to surf from our phones while at lunch, but we do it anyway. It’s a habit that needs to be broken. I truly admire the remaining holdouts who have avoided falling into the pit. That said, it’s serious business.
All day long we hear (and read) about how the Internet has changed everything. You can’t exist without a web presence. Worth is measured in social networks and “followers.” Having just finished American Gods I find that amusing. And forget trying to be a creative person without a dozen ways to make yourself and your work available to as broad an audience as possible. These challenges cut both ways. I want everyone to look at my stuff but I want to control access to my attention.
What am I doing? I’m paring down my feeds. I’m getting really, really selective. It’s high time for an information diet. More time with my head in a book and less time with eyeballs glued to the screen. And much more attention to building instruments and making music. Hell, the Internet could wash away as long as I have a good six string.
None of this will stop my blabbing on this blog twice a week of course. This is quality content!
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