The Quickening
Once I became addicted to the Internet it progressed so quickly I didn't have a chance to realize just how hooked on it I was.
It started innocently enough in the early 2000's by checking out sites like Yahoo.com, MSN.com, CNN.com, ABCNews.go.com, and a whole host of other news media sites. Before long I was trawling around very basic social networks. One that I recall vividly was TheGlobe.com. It no longer exists, at least, in the way I remember it. It was a very primitive MySpace/Facebook/G+ type of social network, but it never really took off.
I would spend countless hours on that site at public Internet kiosks, (libraries, malls, upscale grocery stores, Internet cafes, you name it-I was on it.)
The years 2000 through 2002 were specially tough on me as that was when my son Brandon was having serious medical complications. When I wasn't in the hospital with him and not at work I was on the Internet, trying to get away from all the stress and pressures happening all around. My Internet addiction got its hooks on me for good soon after Brandon passed away in October of 2002. At that time I was very active in many message boards, one of which was The Rush Interactive Network (TRI-Net), a message board for hardcore fans of the Canadian rock group Rush. That group of individuals helped me get through my deepest, darkest moments, and allowed me a way to vent my grief in a manner that allowed me to shelter my oldest son and wife from the wrath of my depression.
I continued participating in many other message boards but soon after the demise of the TRI-Net but became heavily involved in Yahoo!360, a social network that never really took off but was neatly integrated with Yahoo! Messenger, a service that I was utilizing on a daily basis. Many of my long-time Internet acquaintances were made through Y! Messenger. This was not the only messenger service I was utilizing. I found out quickly Microsoft had its own service, MSN Messenger, and promptly began using that service. Soon afterwards I realized my old AOL account was never really deactivated, just my ISP service; so I began utilizing AOL IM. Now I was utilizing 3 messenger services simultaneously every day. Man, it was hard to keep up with so many chats anytime that I logged in to them. Not to mention that my then employer, MCI, had its own proprietary messenger service that allowed my personal accounts to be logged in to it, so at work I could have as many as 4 chat services going on simultaneously. It was any wonder I did any work there!
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| Top-AOL IM, MSN Messenger Bottom-Yahoo! Messenger, Sametime Messenger |
So now that I was firmly hooked on the Internet and using chat services left and right, a massive layoff occurred at MCI. I found myself unemployed for 6 months. One of the things that was first to get cut out of the family budget was Internet service. Talk about withdrawals!
Soon after I began working for my last employer, something amazing happened...I got my very first cellular phone with an integrated SMS plan. This was a watershed moment; one that would set the stage for my current mobile Internet addiction.
To be continued next week...
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