The internet and special interests

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The internet helps me research and find out loads of interesting factiods. but for most of the time I am not really doing much on it... I am on facebook unless I am spending a few hours researching for an article I am going to post on my blog. Not like I have much to do offline instead fill up notebooks with my opinions, thoughts, research, and etc, or reading and researching for a article I want to write. But I am curious if you ever thought the internet got in the way of your special interests... maybe? of course, most of the information I write about I got ideas from the internet. But I also like using books, newspapers, and magazines as sources if I am able to.

Just a thought I am curious of...

Thank you for making this topic! My internet usage really does impede on my special interests and it makes me so frustrated with myself, but I never thought to put it into words until now.

While the Internet has helped me discover my special interests and learn tons of facts about them, I often reach a point where my addiction to the Internet overrides my desire to spend time with my special interests.

For example, one of my special interests is a cartoon and another is a group of movies. I'm way behind on episodes for the cartoon and I haven't seen some of the movies in months, and that's all because I'm too absorbed in the Internet to bother sitting down and watching them.

It makes me feel like I have no right to call myself obsessed if I hardly ever watch them. How can I call myself obsessed with these movies if I only watch them once every few months? How can I call myself a fan of this cartoon if I've only seen a fraction of the episodes that are out?

The internet is one of my interests. And I can listen to way more music, my main interest, online than off, so it actually helps. Also I can watch Star Trek. So it only helps.

Hm, yeah, the Internet is like life: would you say life gets in the way of your interests? (Well, social life might, but generally interests are contained within it.)

The Internet is a fantastic tool for researching special interests, and even for making some interests possible.

However, my mind is always fidgety for input, and mindless surfing of the web meets that need, even when other interests would entertain and occupy me happily if I could get off the "busy mind merry-go-round" of surfing the web.

Analogy: I really like eating steak, but if I start eating chocolate just before dinner, then I might fill up on chocolate and not feel much like eating the steak. Surfing the web is like mental chocolate - it can be so addictive that you don't make time for other tastes.

I try to get online to listen to one song. I end up watching 3 hours of CSPAN videos. Or history videos. Or I try to learn a new language for 3 hours until I get tired. It is getting ridiculous. I wish I could set parental controls for myself and forget the passwords... Oh well.

The internet helps me research information about my special interests, it's a great tool. I also routinely turn a musician or a band into a special interest and I now have the possibility to listen to all of their music on the internet or order online their CDs. Before having a computer, I had to restrain myself only to those albums I found in the local shops.

However, writing is one of my special interests too. I would love to write more and perhaps the internet gets sometimes in the way, in that I spend way too much time on it...

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Probably 75% Aspie, 25% NT... and 100% ADHD

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Aspie score: 138 of 200 / NT score: 78 of 200 => Very likely an Aspie.

I agree, I spend a lot of time researching, and writing, and the internet helps a great deal, but I have also found myself watching video's on youtube, anime, talking to people on facebook, and other random things that don't help my special interests. So that's why I asked the question. I mean, there is no debate that the computer helps, but I also think that it also does harm along with the help in regard to special interests.

If that makes any sense...

I suppose it does. Sometimes I justify it in my mind thinking more productive pursuits aren't easy to do due to lack of money or resources.

I was recently at an exhibit in a mall for a local RC Plane and Helicopter club. I was all over it and even doing decent on their simulator. Still.... not sure I'm at a point where I can drop over $100 on a starter RC Copter. Also those are mostly flown indoors and I'm not sure I have the space.

On the other hand I can run around in a MMO game where I virtually have tons of space to fly my guy around and blow up stuff.

That contributes to the mindset, but I do still get in some book reading, but I could probably do more.

I also have an interest in music and an old Casio I suppose I could mess with but something about it turns me off. I'm not satisfied with the action of the keys and especially the sound. I desire powerful Synth sounds and it doesn't deliver. So I could see trying it through more sound gear like a pedal to modify it but again there comes the money issue.

Lastly, I have a huge interest in Cinema. So there sometimes Netflix comes into play so the internet serves that interest in a medium other then news articles and forum posting.

It at times took over my life. Especially in adolescence. I used it as a crutch to cope when I didn't understand what was going on. I went from being a sporty kid to an Internet kid.

These days, it easily gets in the way of me doing normal things. So I go out of my way to turn the computer off and find offline ways of doing the same things I do on the Internet. My quality of life has improved since doing this.

Sometimes it does, I find it difficult to switch between activities so I can get 'stuck' on the internet despite the fact that the piano is only 2 feet away. I often end up reading about the things I'm supposed to be actually doing (playing, learning languages) rather than actually doing them.