Are you still enjoying the internet? Does it still excite you the way it once did or has it become a chore, an onerous and exhausting exercise you devote countless hours to simply because it’s there demanding attention? Do you mourn those wasted hours on Instagram and Facebook absorbing useless information and following vague threads to a questionable end? I signed on to Substack last year but have not posted anything as I cannot face learning, monitoring and maintaining another site.

I can honestly say I wish I’d never joined Instagram. I enjoy following people I know or once knew on Facebook which should have been enough. Why I ever pushed that “Follow” button on IG I’ll never know but now I’m addicted and can’t cut the metaphorical cord. Fearing painful withdrawal and perhaps missing vital postings, I hang in, captive, ashamed, and hating myself for being so spineless.

Part of the reason I hang in is because there are people I care about on Instagram who do not post on Facebook. The ladies I met on our writer’s retreat in Paris in 2022 have interesting and eventful lives. I can stay in touch with people beyond the perimeter of my close circle of friends. IG allows me to keep up-to-date on their activities without intruding on their busy schedules.

IG has its uses. I can spend hours scrolling through tantalizing pictures of Paris street scenes and shop windows. I can find easy, appealing recipes that I save but never make. There’s no such thing as too many pictures of cute dogs (especially Yorkies or Maltese) or dog rescue stories with a happy ending. I love them all. My mind slips into a Zen state as I scroll and lose track of time. I’ve also sourced a few cool fashion items that I was able to order online that would not have passed my field of vision otherwise.

But, I’ve also had to spend a lot of time trying to opt out of receiving so many postings by blocking, unsubscribing, or otherwise deleting unwanted and unwelcome appeals for donations, rogue sites that I never asked for, and various unsolicited intrusions into my online life. It’s a constant challenge to dodge the scams, block unwanted feeds, and otherwise manage my In-Box.

I must confess, though, that I would be lost without Google. I can’t imagine how we ever managed before it existed. YouTube is similarly helpful even though I do not use it as much as I could or should to help bail me out of solving computer and other technical problems. It amazes me that so many people put all that helpful information out there for free. Thank you whoever you are.

After I finish reading the morning paper (yes, hard copy, laid out on my kitchen table—although these days The Globe and Mail is leaner than a furniture sale flyer) while I enjoy multiple mugs of strong Yorkshire Gold tea. Then, I move to my La-Z-Girl, I pick up my iPad and start scrolling. Bad move. Before I know it, it’s nearly noon and I haven’t even showered and dressed yet. I would much prefer my mornings be dedicated to composing Nobel-prize-worthy articles for my loyal BoomerBroadcast readers. It’s a habit I have to change before my brain atrophies.

As the power of the internet and A.I. irreversibly morph and grow even stronger, I mourn their effect on society. While its benefits (such as online shopping) are undeniable, the dangers are ever present and must be managed. Are we losing the ability to communicate through personal conversation, where we can touch someone on the arm, hug them if they’re feeling down, or make eye contact to read into someone’s soul?

The internet has changed our lives forever but I hope that going forward we learn to manage its power to channel it for good and minimize the bad. Are the powers that be are up to the job of stopping the scammers, the promoters of fake news, and the haters? Regulation is overdue and I hope the good wins out. Meanwhile, I must start managing my own consumption before I waste the rest of my life scrolling.