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I would like to be the kind of person who views the internet as a life-altering and monumental invention, but I find that I'm not really that person.
I tend to view the internet in much the same way I view the mall. It's a confined space where groups of friends get together and either hang out or buy shit. Except, on the internet, it's a pretend mall with porn shops every 35 feet and sidewalk preachers.
I also tend to find that many online communities - and chat rooms - are a lot like high schools at lunch time. You either belong to a certain clique or you don't. And if you don't belong, you're ridiculed. The irony here is that most online cliques are comprised of the people who were ridiculed in real life by high school cliques. It's for this reason that the TFP is like a tropical island in the shit-sea of online communities and is the only one to which I belong.
Aside from that, the only thing I do on the internet is buy concert tickets and check movie times. I still read real newspapers, shop in real bookstores, do research in a real library, buy real CDs, and vinyl when I can find what I want, watch movies on a large screen or on my television, drink in real bars and have sex with a real woman.
This isn't to criticize those who prefer doing these things on the internet, I just prefer the tangible aspects of doing what I do.
Also, have I mentioned that I'm a bit cynical?
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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
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