That’s kind of you, it’s not so much the forum as being online in general. Everywhere you go now; news apps, Twitter, football coverage, it’s like there’s a black cloud hanging over everything. I know that if I stop doom scrolling and inviting negativity in every single time I take my phone out of my pocket I’ll be better for it. Football has always been one of my main distraction but I just can’t stand what it is now. Persisting with a football forum feels counter productive.
The more I drink, the worse I feel. The more time I spend online, the worse I feel about the world. I know I need to make some changes to my life and cutting out negative influences has worked for me in the past.
I didn’t want to skulk out without saying thanks and goodbye though. I’ve spent 15 years posting on here and I love it but I think I need to find a different outlet and ways to use my time.
Do what you need to do but think about this :
Like all of the other old wankers on here I had the advantage of living the first half of my life without the existence of the internet. One of the main effects of that is that I absolutely cannot take it seriously. Not even a little bit.
Oh I know it has some horrific real world effects, not the least of which is giving platforms & relevance to the sort of pointless no marks that would have gone unnoticed 25 years ago.
But as an actual entity, well, the nearest analogy I have for it is that the internet in general & social media in particular is pretty much just a global toilet wall. I've never paid any attention to anything written about me on a bog wall so I'm not likely to give a shit about the internet either.
It worries me that people in their teens & twenties absorb it into the fabric of their lives so much. Genuinely worries me.
I've actually heard them talk about stuff that patently isn't even real. I have friends who are teachers telling me they have kids in their classes who pay no attention to anything & when called on it are happy to announce that said teacher is a " ****ing loser " & they'll be happy to share that with the world at large when they're a multi millionaire content creator on youtube or tiktok 2 years from now.
At your age I guess you're in between these 2 extremes. Try to veer toward the old **** rather than the young wanker & things will probably be better.
As for news feeds & such...well, news has always been shit. I grew up expecting a nuclear strike to end my world & watched all the progress of the post war years get frittered away. Life is struggle & challenge, online or off, always, for every generation, for the last 6000 years. just learn to laugh at the more ridiculous parts. It keeps you sane.
There was a time when baiting racists at the mail online under various usernames got me through a rough patch. I could taste their fury & impotent rage & it was great. Cheered me up no end. The trick was, it was real to them. To me it was just ****ing with morons & it didn't really matter.
Just a big toilet wall mate.
