A few months ago, I began listening to a podcast about sword and sorcery books. It was great, it began in 2019 and featured three guys, who all played off of each other incredibly well. I was excited that I had six years of episodes to catch up on until I reached the first episode recorded once COVID began. The tone was different. Their demeanor was different, and you could hear the anger and rage at the world rising up.
I decided to skip ahead a few episodes, but it didn’t get any better. In fact, it may have gotten worse. I kept skipping ahead, all the way until I was through the COVID era shows, but the show never came back. The hosts, one particularly, were different. He was tired, beat down, and despite churning out content, you could tell life was different for him. I gave up on the show, which was a shame since it started out so great.
I mention this story, because I feel like I’m seeing the same thing happening across the internet. Over the past couple of months, most of my favorite bloggers have written less. I’ve seen individuals who are practically walking away from the internet, as much as they can, within reason. I think if I had to sum up what I know I’m feeling, and I think a lot of others are in one word: exhaustion.
It’s tiresome keeping up with the onslaught of negativity online. It doesn’t matter if it’s political, social, entertainment, tech related, or regular ole discussion, the negativity and frustration is at an all-time high. There is no escape. At one point, it seemed that personal blogs and small online communities were the refuge against big tech/advertising/negativity, but they are just as negative, if not more, without the advertising.
I remember when surfing the web or escaping into cyberspace was a break from real life. It was a place where I could go to relax and escape the worries of my regular life. Now, it seems every time I log on, I find something new to stress about, something else to be pissed off about, and I just don’t know how much more of this I can take. I guess things have come full circle, now I go offline to escape real life and relax, as the internet has truly become the place where I hate to be.
