(Nearly) open-thread Friday January 6 2012

People "use" the internet in many different ways. It can a research tool, a form of entertainment AND a way to connect with people. Some people spend hours looking at pictures of kittens or reading newspapers from far away places (or times) or get lost in TVTropes.

So, how do you like to use the internet? How is it most useful and when does it get in the way of getting anything done. What are your favourite places to go and why? (Fun links welcomed.)

---

 

The Slacktiverse is a community blog. Content reflects the individual opinions of the contributors. We welcome disagreement in the comment threads, and invite anyone who wishes to present an alternative interpretation of a situation to write and submit a post.

Comments

[Rodeobob]

Obligatory link is obligatory

I used to read a lot of aggregator sites (Reddit, Digg, Fark) but the commentariat and other problematic issues drove me away. I still enjoy Slashdot and Metafilter, but I've walked back on the newsfeeds.

I like political blogs, but most of the big "community" sites have devolved into link-bait and pandering, or just low quality content. (HuffPo, Kos) The same can be said for the "on-line magazine" style sites like Salon or Jezebel or Gawker.

I'm actually a lot less social on-line than I used to be, due to several unrelated elements. I used to be more active in a few hobbies, so I used bulliten boards for trading ideas and generally "talking shop", but I'm not as involved in those hobbies as much, I don't visit those sites.

I used to have several "social networking" profiles, but I discovered that the time and investment I made into those "social networks" didn't ever transfer to an increased "social network" away from those sites. It's great that I had umpteen "friends" on Facebook, but no matter what I did on Facebook, it didn't result in my spending more time with those people, or going to new or different events with those "friends", or even having more in-person conversations with those "friends". As 'social networks' go, the on-line ones seemed to involve me spending a lot of time home, alone, in front of a computer. So I walked away from that. (I'm actually enjoying Twitter for both it's brevity and non-reciprocity)

I blogged for a few years during prolonged unemployment, but quit for a couple of reasons ranging from managing an on-line persona to the effort-in/reward-out being out of balance to other unrelated issues.

Netflix on-line streaming remains a frustratingly-incomplete experience. I suspect I'm partially invested in what I hope it will become as much as I'm invested in the entertainment it currently provides. I keep trying out new webcomics, but very few seem to have any lasting hold over me.

And then there's an entire folder of bookmarks that could be labeled "wasting time for cheap laughs": the Cheezeburger network, NotAlwaysRight, WorstThanFailure, the AV club... it's tricky to draw the line between "entertaining diversions" (like CaptainAkward and ManBoobz) and "things that make me think in new ways" (like the various deconstructions, or the Slacktiverse)

[Will Wildman]

Over the last few years, the internet has largely become a place where I can have group discussions on stuff that I'm interested in - my real-life friends tend not to know each other and/or tend not to share a lot of interests, so that stuff tends to be one-on-one, while internet groups are not determined by geography and so we get awesome communities like like the Slacktiverse (and my other go-to, Ana Mardoll's Ramblings). I also just haven't met that many people IRL anywhere who are interested in discussing the evolution of racial representation in popular literature, so there are few options.

As I think I said here some years ago, the Slacktiverse is the place where I can make an offhand reference to the Secret History of the Mongols and people chime in with jokes about the international postal service.

I have facebook, but it's more like an extra bit of contact info than anything else. Address, phone number, email, fb friendship - methods of getting in touch with people if needed. I've actively tried to keep my friendcount down (thus why most slacktivites aren't included; I tend to restrict it to people I've met in person - if there's another slacktivite meet-up [and wasn't there some plan recently?] then another bump is expected).

In terms of research, there are social justice sites (Tiger Beatdown, Shakesville) that are always informative and entertaining. I spend much less time on TVtropes than I used to, for a variety of reasons, but I still drop by sometimes because I get an idea in my head and I want a quick-reference list of other known treatments of the matter.

(TW: references to gun violence)

I've also really enjoyed Wikisource, the free online library - I try to do most of my book-buying at the local independent bookstore (sometimes starring ShifterCat) but if I want to read Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 speech "I Have Just Been Shot", the internet serves me better. (The speech, at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/I_have_just_been_shot, really is worth reading; Teddy Roosevelt would have had no patience for people saying that politicians didn't bear any responsibility for the attack on US Congresswoman Giffords.)

[Deird, who likes this question]

- Dreamwidth
- Slacktivist
- The Slacktiverse
- Feministe
- Shakesville
- etc

Basically, my internet is made up of lots of blog posts with really interesting comment sections. I read a lot of Christian blogs (and non-Christians commenting on Christian stuff) and a lot of feminism-with-special-thought-about-pop-culture blogs. I also read several of the blogs written by people here.

While I also use other bits (Wikipedia, Mark Watches, Not Always Right, That Guy With The Glasses, Crikey, TV Tropes, Ship of Fools...), my favourite bits always involve long blog posts with interesting comments. It's how I roll.

[Sixwing]

@Will Wildman - thank you, that has sparked a blog entry for me. I should refine that some, but it got me writing, and that's awesome!

... back to work with me, now. My internet is a lovely distraction, but I've gotta get this done.

[Laiima]

It's hard being an introvert in a world filled with extroverts. I was introduced to the Internet during a college biology lab in 1996, when I was almost 30 years old. I've met more friends through the Internet than with any other method, including anything I've done off-line. I don't spend too much time thinking about how socially isolated I was pre-1996, because it's way too scary and depressing.

A (online) friend with a LiveJournal account encouraged me to start blogging in 2003. I started reading political blogs later that year, then branched out into blogs by feminists and/or artists. Fred Clark is the only person I started reading in the mid-2000s that I'm still reading. I started my own Wordpress blog in 2009; Tumblr, 2011.

I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook but I will say it's good for some things. I do have friends who are either 'too busy' to ever use e-mail, or they prefer phone calls to e-mail. Facebook is a way to stay in contact with them, while yet avoiding talking on the phone. But I have purged my friend list several times, so (excepting a few in-laws) if you are one, I really really like you.

I use LinkedIn to retain at least nominal contact with former coworkers, people I've met in other temporary contexts (now that I've been unemployed for quite a while), and friends with interesting careers. I've made it a policy not to connect to anyone that I disliked (which includes several horrible ex-bosses). I had hoped LI might help me find another job, but it hasn't.

I've tried Craigslist and Meetup to find local people with similar interests, to give me a reason to leave my apartment occasionally, but nothing has panned out. All the really cool stuff is centered in DC, which is kind of a haul from here (50 miles, 1 way).

[Nick Kiddle]

I have a weird thing going on with Twitter that I keep meaning to blog - but these days I only have the energy for tweets. Most nights I'll be sitting up reading some article or other and read something that strikes me as so utterly *wrong* that I fire off a burst of tweets denouncing it. Then later, or the next morning, I find that a dozen or more people have retweeted my outburst, so obviously it struck a chord with them. The trouble is, my mother always used to tell me off for feeling the need to share my thoughts and feelings with the world, so I feel guilty, as if Twitter is rewarding my bad behaviour.

I used to be very active on Facebook, but they seem to be on a mission to turn it into something else that I find far less useful. I still check it out to keep in touch with friends, and update my status after a football match, but I'm nothing like as active any more.

I follow an ever-expanding number of webcomics, which is probably very bad for me. I start investing emotionally in the characters, and if something happens to the creator I feel lost in limbo. I do the usual link-chasing on TVTropes and Cracked, frequently tweeting that Cracked would be truly awesome without their constant ableist language and occasional genderfails.

I also use the internet to find new ways of using up my scrap. I had a batch of marmalade fail on me, so I've been searching for recipes to use it up, and I also run after every link I spot for "Things to make with old [household item]". I look for materials that are available online, but I usually end up making the actual purchases though a physical shop because I'm not always confident of picking out the correct thing from a picture.

[chris the cynic]

I'm mostly here, at Ana Mardoll's Ramblings, and at Slacktivist.

I tend to follow fivethirtyeight and some of the political things at the Huffington Post.

I follow the webcomic sinfest, and have watched with interest as it introduced the patriarchy to its story. Though mostly I follow it because I love the relationship between Crim and Fuschia. I feel like that should have some kind of warning attached because sinfest is not without its problems, especially the further back you go.

Part of the reason that I'm interested in the in the introduction the patriarchy is that I think it's being handled well (it seems to be doing a good job of pointing out the comments that reenforce misogyny and gender roles and so forth which it puts in the streaming matrixy words) and I'm hoping that that means the author is more aware of problematic things than he once was and thus the comic will continue to improve.

For the amount of time I spend online I don't actually do that much. I am on facebook, and do read things from those of you who I am connected to on facebook.

[Asha]

When I first encountered the internet in 1998, I went for media sites related to books I enjoyed. I didn't start into the social aspects until I started college. That helped me cope with the transition into college as well as helped me find a hobby I adored for years. I've also used the internet for research purposes whenever I've had papers/assignments/what-have-you. But, overall, the internet has been quite good for me.

[MercuryBlue]

*high-fives Rodeobob*

Internet is my social hour. Here, Dreamwidth, Slacktivist, Livejournal (but I'm trying to wean myself off that because the PTBs are assholes), Etsy. Etsy is a pure money suck. Except when somebody pays me for something. Then it's delightful. Facebook and Twitter occasionally. Echo Bazaar is unadulterated joy.

And can somebody please rec me free feminist porn videos? f/f ideally, but anything will do, that's the fun part of being bi. I like my porny fanfics as much as the next girl but sometimes I want visuals.

[Literata]

This is interesting for me because I'm in the middle of a serious reconsideration of how I use the internet. One part of that is a family situation that completely knocked me off the treadmill of reading all my news and blog feeds daily, and the other is that my iPad lets me keep up with things and do a lot of stuff without constantly sitting at the desk and maintaining a chat window with some friends in the background.

I'm still not quite sure what I think about these. I like not sitting at the desk as much, and although I love my friends and want to talk with them sometimes, I'm actually kind of glad that I'm not spending 3+ hours chatting and reading the feeds. (Oh, I'll just finish this story...except we have to finish that part of the conversation, so I'll read another story...etc.)

On the other hand, I feel tremendously disconnected from my previous level of awareness, and strangely guilty about that. I can't be On Top of Everything Blogger with Instantaneous Insights if I'm not, well, on top of everything! But since blogging isn't the pinnacle of my ambitions, maybe it's good to take a step back and not get too, too wrapped up in it.

I'm trying to find a new happy medium, but it's not easy. I have to say the 'verse is helping greatly on many levels.

[Froborr]

I wrote detailed descriptions of all the webcomics I read regularly (including taking about five times as many words to say what chris said so much more succinctly about Sinfest), hit Preview to test the links, clicked the first link... and lost the entire post.

RAGE

[RodeoBob]

*fist-bumps MercuryBlue*

Funny you should ask about feminist porn. I've been following a few porn stars on Twitter (often surprisingly funny) and reading their blogs, (and you thought your work stories were colorful!) and I think I might have someone for you to consider. Bobbi Starr is a sex-positive, forward thinking porn star who avoids almost every traditional porn cliche'. One of her recent projects was a film shot in "Female POV". (versus the extremely common Male POV) Like so many other things, the samples are free, even though the full product is not. I'm not saying every project she does would qualify as inherently feminist, but her attitude in her writing and interviews is extremely healthy and positive. (disclosure: I first saw Ms. Starr when she played Velma in the (dog-free!) Scooby-Doo XXX parody, which is very much mainstream porn but she looked good in the wig and genuinely seemed to have fun)

(all links NSFW; mild trigger warning on the website, Ms. Starr does do some fetish work that could be a bit jarring if you're not prepared)

[MercuryBlue]

Free samples will do me for a while. (Can't check them out now, though, parents and siblings are home and awake.) Thanks!

[Ross]

Here is a fantastic story to brighten your day: Dear Customer who stuck up for his little brother, you thought I didn’t really notice. But I did. I wanted to high-five you. It's a report of a video game shop clerk about a customer who stuck up for his little brother when their father got threateny about the kid's insistence on buying a "girl" game.

[Timothy (TRiG)]

@Ross.

Awwwwwwwwwwwww. That is absolutely beautiful.

TRiG.

[Nenya]

I'm in fandom, and have been since I got online in about 1998, though less active these days than I used to be. This means I seek out other people's reactions to film and TV and books I loved, and read fanfic, and occasionally write it. And by fic I do include porn, though there's certainly G-rated stuff I enjoy as well. (Agree with you about the visuals, MercuryBlue, as well as the practicality of being bi in this situation. *grin* And thanks for the links, RodeoBob.)

I also follow some political and feminist blogs, though again less so than I used to. (It comes in waves, I find: I'll be really into a particular blog for a while, and then just wander away, perhaps to return in six months or a year when it catches my interest again.) Right now I'm mostly following the Slacktiverse, Ana Mardoll, and sometimes Fred's Slactivist and places like Pandagon. I'll click and read a lot of links to political blogs, even if they're not places I follow every day.

I do use Facebook, partly because my friends are scattered across the North American continent (and, indeed, the English-speaking world), and partly because I can play Scrabble there. :D I even use it to set up coffee or pizza nights with several of my local friends, too; it's known that we can contact each other that way if we can't get through by cell phone or whatever. Twitter never really worked for me (I spent all my time direct-messaging someone whom I could have contacted as easily by chat) but I do LJ/DW at times (moreso a few years back--hmm, I sense a theme). As someone who is both highly social & extroverted and also extremely deaf, I find that the Internet *hugely* improves my social life. Maybe it keeps other people from seeing "real life" friends, but it keeps *me* from climbing the freakin' wall and becoming depressed from *lack* of human communication.

So, fandom, porn, politics, social life--oh, and the occasional silly cat picture as well. The Internet, I am fond of saying, was made for me.

[J Enigma (the Transhumanist!)]

@Ross - that's awesome. That sort of story is just what I needed.

I though Mirror's Edge was a pretty cool concept when I first saw it. Parkour is awesome on the face, and the fact that they've got a really cool main character who, unlike certain other female main characters dresses for the job she does, makes it even better. Faith does awesome stuff on a regular basis in that game. It's also a game that doesn't put an emphasis on violence, which is cool. You can make it through the whole game and only *have* to fight one person.

I've only got one complaint with it, and it's that the game is first person. I can't play first person games. I have severe motion sickness; I can't even be in the room with someone while they're playing first-person games. So instead, I picked it up on my iPod. Third person, not as good as the actual game and kinda tricky to play (since it's on an iPod) but still pretty cool.

Still, awesome story is awesome. After wading my way through utterly amoral douchebag frat boy entitlement, it's a welcome read.

[truth is life]

Eh, my Internet activities are all over the place, probably because I spend so much darn time on it. Besides following a good dozen or so webcomics and having archive-dived a couple more at one point or another; having a bunch of news sites, a couple of blogs, and some specialty things in my Google Reader queue; and occasionally taking long breaks to just read things, I'm an active member of two forums (this seems to be about my limit at any given time; if I find a new forum I like better than one of the old ones, I abandon the old one rather than continue with it), follow the Slacktiverse relatively closely, and follow Fred at the Slacktivist a bit less closely.

It's also a good source of various things, computer games and books, mostly. Probably about half the computer games I own are purely online, and while very few of my books are, as of yet, purely digital, I've been relying on Amazon as a significant book source for a long time. I know, I know, but I live in a "book-desert" (to borrow a term); there just aren't any independent book stores within a reasonable distance of here aside from maybe a few used book stores and a BUNCH of Christian book stores (I hardly need to explain why I wouldn't shop at those). It's more or less Amazon or Barnes & Noble, and the former is a lot more likely to have certain books than the latter (for instance, a giant table of integrals when you need one yesterday and are perfectly willing to shell out for one-day shipping).

Anyways, the forums are fun. One of them is an alternate history forum, which is a lot of fun--I've always been interested in history, and it has a lot of writing. Currently I'm engaged in a writing project on an alternate history of the space program from about 1969 onwards there with a coauthor--it's been a great partnership, actually, and it's really nice to see a number of people commenting on and liking your work. It helps that alternate history is a bit different than most other fiction types, in that it is perfectly valid to write something which is really more of a history book than a novel, and people will still read it (at least online). This fits much better with my writing experience and how I tend to think than trying to write a novel does, so it's a lot more likely that I'll actually finish something.

The other is more of a fandom forum, very male-dominated unfortunately, but it can still be fun. Mostly oriented around comparing different SFF franchises and universes in battle, some roleplaying (well, everywhere has roleplaying), a good games section. I wonder if anyone here knows of any good more-or-less feminist (or at least not completely male-dominated to the point that simply assuming every poster is male is good) general gaming forums?

[truth is life]

Argh, did the spam trap get me again?

[The Board Administration Team]

@truth is life: yeah, you got caught and overnight there was a massive wave of spam. We finally found you and untrapped you.

[kisekileia]

The internet is, well, most of my social life. When I discovered it, I was able to connect and build friendships with people easily for the first time in my life. It was an incredible experience, and I ended up kind of addicted. I still am, just not as badly. I started off on (what was originally) the message board for a quirky left-wing Christian ska band called Five Iron Frenzy, gradually shifted to LiveJournal and Facebook, and started coming here about a year ago. I just...I can't express how much easier it is for me to connect with people online. Offline, I get really stuck on the shift from acquaintance to friend--I can't seem to figure out how to get people from the first to the second. Online it's comparatively easy, almost as if I were neurotypical. I hope this analogy doesn't offend anyone, but it seems almost like I was missing a leg all my life and then I got my first good prosthetic. It's wonderful.