[Process Post 3] Digital Detox & Site Map

Updates and Mistakes

Troubleshooting is always part of the process and this time, it isn’t really a ‘mistake’… but it took long enough to realize it. I was wondering why my site would load slowly. It was because I had placed a photo I took as my background and it caused the site to be slow. Thus, I set my site as a dark blue that goes well with the accent. Voila, the site no longer loads slowly every time I access it. Now I know that if I want to upload a photo background/any photo from my collection, I will need to be aware of the size of photo to avoid long loading times.

I have added a simple logo of a penguin I often draw. I may update this to be more evident, but for now, it works! Click below to head back to home page!

Site Map

My PUB 101 content is now nested in its own category with a menu drop down of relevant tags (posiel and process posts). I have also included an About dropdown menu with About the Site and About Me pages that helps introduce who I am and what I am doing with the site — as I have understood that my audience may not immediately ‘get’ what my site is going to be about. Of course, the best way to represent self isn’t to say, but show that self. Currently, the last two is the Adventure Slices (public posts) and Land/Territory Acknowledgement. I may add 1 more if needed to this menu, but I do not plan to as it will be too cluttered.

Lastly, I have added my site to my Instagram profile as well.

Digital Detox

My online behavior according to John Suler’s The Online Disinhibition Effect that I reflected upon reading is See You Later “Asynchronicity” where there is a delay in feedback. Instead of real-time feedback of a call, video call, live chats, and in-person interactions, this is where someone’s “[non-]immediate reaction can be disinhibiting.” While I do not feel the suspended response as a description I have, I do appreciate this during work when I am busy. For example, I know someone just emailed, but I can comfortably do something else knowing I can get to it later. On the other hand, in the same space, if someone talks to me, I feel compelled to immediately give a response or acknowledgement at least. My online self-outside of work usually does not involve synchronicity situations. That said, I do know that having space and time between responses often is great for crafting a better response when I need it.

Craig Mod’s How I Got My Attention Back article discusses an interesting topic where attention is essentially wanted by various ongoing activities in our lives. Whether it is our immediate surroundings and activities to being simply online while waiting at a bus stop. Even the WIRED’s site in this article has a video “Trending Now” is trying to grab my attention while reading the article. Our attention is wanted in many parts of our lives.

While I can relate being interested in a game that I enjoy playing, I never had developed the habit of being obsessed like Craig with Clash of Clans. Knowing myself, I have a value scale that weighs the activity that I am enjoying with something else I should be doing. At least, when it comes to games, it has been easy to not be addicted. Stop is stop. I can always come back to it.

One aspect towards the end of his text was “I pulled the plug. Deleted the app. Deleted the Game Center account. The data was gone (I hoped, I haven’t checked). A weight was temporarily lifted.” Temporarily lifted. What strikes me in this article is that even though Craig explains his reasons leading up to the final decision of getting his attention back, he ends with “temporarily” meaning he recognizes that this is not permanent by any means. Whether it is thinking about it or eventually going back to the game, it reminds me of a Digital Detox project I had a couple years ago before pandemic. The Detox was to go 24 hours without my phone. Understanding my usage habits, I know that I have days where I’ve only used it to check the time and that was it. On other days, it was to chat with friends or read all day. Yet, my detox could only be summarized as “nice”. It gave me a reason to not check my phone and do what I needed to do. Luckily, there wasn’t anything in need that used social media. My experience contrasts from Craig’s where I felt a bit of anxiety and anxiousness from his story.

The question remains: Could I be offline for a month? If I factored out important and essential use of being online, I think I would be very open to doing so. It would be interesting how I would plan to use my time, do things the old fashioned way and enjoy my month like the 11 year old me did. I was 11 before I was connected to the internet.

References

• Mod, Craig. 2017. “How I Got My Attention Back.”
• Suler, John. 2004. “The Online Disinhibition Effect” Available from: Cyberpsychology & behavior 7.3 (2004): 321-326.