I'm Still Online, Just Not HERE Very Much

I recently read an amusing articel by a German journalist who had, as she called it, commited virtual suicide. The simple idea was to remove as many digital traces of herself from the web as possible. So she went about deleting her social and professional networking pages (German's use Xing.de rather than linkedin.com and studivz.de instead of facebook.com). The repercussions of her actions went much father than she expected. It actually caused many of her friends to get angry. Nowadys, even in Germany, one IM's and SuperPokes rather than meeting for coffee it seems. I've considering somthing similar myself.

Over the wekend I agreed to participate in a telephone survey of my media consumption habits. When the tester asked me how many hours a day I spend online, I was actually a little shocked by my own answer. In my life, the internet and computer usage in general has far outweighed an of the more traditional forms of media, including (embarassingly) the time I spend reading books and magazines (although, an argument can be made for the reading I do online and the audio books I consume daily).

What am I doing? What have I acheived with all this investment in time? That's hard to quantify.

I do know however, that I never really tried to apply those kind of standard questions to myself when watching TV or reading trash publications. There is a certain satisfaction in being "informed" (if that is really what I am after surfing all night) that I get. I also generally enjoy learning, so even if it's trivia or things that used to interest me as a kid, I enjoy these just as much as the things that I learn for my job or hobbies.

So I guess I won't be pulling the plug on my digital life anytime soon. I will, however, try to focus focus focus on that which is most imporant....