I'm stopping internet use as much as I can, any advice?

I saw a TED Talk on the effects of internet porn with addicts in the past 10 years, and that there is a link between instant gratification in the brain by using high speed porn access, and the more we use the internet, the more the brain is numbed by what used to be exciting to you. I think this stems out to more than just pornography, and is internet use in general. Also, a technology journalist from the verge quit the internet for a year (Paul Miller), starting may 1st, 2012. From his recent articles, he says not having constant information in your face tempting you, is freeing. The scariest part is that depression and social anxiety may be directly linked to this new form of instant novelty and answers the internet is known for, and honestly now thinking about it, I think I have been affected in one way or the other. The good news though, is the brain is plastic in nature, so it can be reversed, and that is why I am cutting down on instant clicks of the internet. The TED talk also mentioned videogames, but I think that part is BS. Sites I am going to flat out not visit for as long as I can take it:

• Reddit
• Youtube
• Slashdot
• Facebook
• TwitchTV

So, is there anyone else that has done the same thing and has advice, or do you have general tips. I am not leaving this site because it almost promotes being patient and posting long videos that aren't pure entertainment. Same with the forums, so pretty much news sites and game sites will be the only real ones I visit.

Tech Journalist, Paul Miller's articles on cutting internet use entirely so far:

After one day offline

Offline: Peeking

Yes, just a little hint: Turn the computer on only when you need it, do all of your computer-necessary things then, and cut it off for the day afterwards. If there's any knowledge you suddenly feel the need to Google for, or any help you suddenly want with something, wait until the next day to turn it on. Unless it's absolutely necessary, just leave the thing off.

I can't fully follow this rule all the time because my Xbox connects to the internet through my laptop, but lately I've really been trying to limit the time I spend on the computer. It's not as easy as it seems. Even when I don't mean to get on GB or Facebook, I wind up opening those tabs anyway.

So there's my hint. Leave the computer off unless you need it, and do all your computer stuff in one sitting and then no more. You've got MP3 players for music, consoles for games (unless you're a PC gamer), and DVD players for movies.

@believer258: That should be moderately easy now because I use a laptop as my main computer, and just turn it off when I leave so it doesn't get hot later. I will certainly follow through, thanks for the tip.

I think my brain is numb.. seriously. I don't really watch porn anymore because I have no place to watch it, but Facebook and Youtube are where I spend a lot of my free time.

Maybe have a timer that automatically shuts off power to your modern when you go lets say 3 hours. Then you can slowly lower that

@NlGHTCRAWLER: That's why I never visit 4chan, I need a shred of humanity left. Countless people say seeing car accident photos and whatnot are normal and not disturbing to them after going to that site for years, I don't want to be that guy.

The idea presented about instant gratification sound completely feasible. Will this stop my internet surfing habits? Probably not, but good on you for trying it out. I'd be curious to see if getting away from the disposable minute media sites will help. For a few years in junior high I frequented 4chan (Yeah, I know. Not what I would call my best years...) and experienced a similar thing. The first few times I went, you see well a lot of really dirty, stupid stuff and its incredibly intriguing to a stupid teen. Then, after seeing everything a million times, I became really desensitized and eventually grew out of going there. If anything, that is still the case, as if I ever end up seeing /b/ again, nothing has changed and I think "Why the hell did I waste time here?"

@BestUsernameEver: Sadly, its very very true. After awhile NOTHING will upset you. Good on you for avoiding it. Some, of my friends still frequent it which I find crazy. I'm talking 20 year-old's here.

@Deathdealer108 said:

The idea presented about instant gratification sound completely feasible. Will this stop my internet surfing habits? Probably not, but good on you for trying it out. I'd be curious to see if getting away from the disposable minute media sites will help. For a few years in junior high I frequented 4chan (Yeah, I know. Not what I would call my best years...) and experienced a similar thing. The first few times I went, you see well a lot of really dirty, stupid stuff and its incredibly intriguing to a stupid teen. Then, after seeing everything a million times, I became really desensitized and eventually grew out of going there. If anything, that is still the case, as if I ever end up seeing /b/ again, nothing has changed and I think "Why the hell did I waste time here?"

@BestUsernameEver said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER: That's why I never visit 4chan, I need a shred of humanity left. Countless people say seeing car accident photos and whatnot are normal and not disturbing to them after going to that site for years, I don't want to be that guy.

Lucky for me, I didn't actually hear of 4Chan until my College years. When I visited it out of sheer curiosity, I found a bastion of the worst the internet has to offer.

Seriously, don't go there. If anyone reads this and hasn't been there, just don't. I know there's a huge temptation, but this is one of those things that you're better off not seeing.

In my opinion, the only way to avoid a convenience like the intranets is to make it less convenient. To do that, I recommend rigging some sort of makeshift flamethrower to your computer that blasts a stream of fire about 6 inches out from the monitor whenever certain websites are accessed. That is a distance that is potentially somewhat harmful and certainly uncomfortable, but probably not life-threatening. Or, you could cancel your fancy high speed Internet and go back to dial-up.

@BestUsernameEver said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER: That's why I never visit 4chan, I need a shred of humanity left. Countless people say seeing car accident photos and whatnot are normal and not disturbing to them after going to that site for years, I don't want to be that guy.

What's 4chan? Like a site dedicated to fucked up shit er what?

Stop making threads on GB that you'll feel pressured to check back on regularly.

@believer258: I have never heard of 4chan before now. Is it THAT bad?

@BestUsernameEver said:

The scariest part is that depression and social anxiety may be directly linked to this new form of instant novelty and answers the internet is known for

I had depression way back before people started blaming the internet for it. I don't believe this crap, anything can be attributed to anyone showing signs of depression or lack of 'outside' social activities.

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

@believer258: I have never heard of 4chan before now. Is it THAT bad?

It's a pretty raunchy place.

@NlGHTCRAWLER: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan Basicly a forum without restrictions.

@Deathdealer108 said:

@BestUsernameEver: Sadly, its very very true. After awhile NOTHING will upset you. Good on you for avoiding it. Some, of my friends still frequent it which I find crazy. I'm talking 20 year-old's here.

Sites don't generally have an age limit. Why do you feel you need to imply there is one? Also being on the internet in general, you see things you don't want to see sometimes. It's up to you if you become desensitized from it. I for one, am not and still avoid certain things as much as I can because I don't want my stomach to churn.

While not defending 4chan, it is just a site. It's what you take from it. If you're always expecting to see gruesome and horrible things and think "its the worst of the internet" (clearly you havent seen much of the internet), you'll obviously take mental note when you do until that's all you see. I can spend time reading the video game board on there and never see anything I'm trying to avoid because I don't pay attention to it.

I can definitely relate to the free feeling associated with no access. At first, I feel blind in some respect and then the anxiety kicks in. On average, I check my email 20+ times a day so not knowing what's in my inbox is a scary thing for me. The interesting part is when you've gone without for a couple days and then you start to notice the things you've been ignoring. I would describe the sensation with the horse blinders analogy. Sometimes we can be so focused on the every day events that we forget the important things.

As a result, I always have one day a week (usually Sunday) where I don't go online in any way. Fill this day with a hobbie or a scheduled activity with friends. If the weather's nice, go hang out on a friends porch and shoot the shit. Connecting with people in real time is the best way to scratch your social itch.

@Philantrophy said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan Basicly a forum without restrictions.

Stopped reading after child porn.

@NlGHTCRAWLER: As you should, that place is messed up. Surprised some people haven't heard of it.

All of the sites that you are going to stop visiting are primarily entertainment sites so I am taking a chance by saying that you do not seek useful information from those sites, and one might compare them for example to reading the funny pages or watching movies. So what you might need is a hobby to occupy the time you would normally use on the computer.

I also find this Paul Miller experiment weird. I might sound like a douche when saying this, but it is a dumb idea. This whole thing that the internet is a prison and information is beating us up is bullshit. The internet is what you make it to be, you can use it as a library or for searching dumb things. If the internet wasn't there we would be doing the same thing, albeit less effective. Might as well remove cellphones because they make us available all the time.

@BestUsernameEver said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER: As you should, that place is messed up. Surprised some people haven't heard of it.

And I thought Giantbomb was bad. Seriously, this place sounds like troll heaven. How can anyone enjoy that?

The Internet isn't your problem, you are just viewing websites that offer little to no productivity, if you wish to be more productive, killing Internet use is one of the worst ideas you could possibly have.

I couldn't possibly imagine what learning a language without the Internet must have been like, scarily more difficult that's for sure. I definitely can't go long without the Internet because of that alone, I also feel sites like Reddit (your experience will vary) can give you some really eye opening images and articles that you'd likely not have seen otherwise.

and that guy from The Verge is kinda an odd case, the net is one of the great modern inventions, going without it is like refusing to use electrical lights in favour of candles. You're just depriving yourself of something extremely useful and convenient.

Edit: as for 4chan I stopped going when I clicked on a picture, unsure of what it was, and it turned out to be child porn. Fucked. Up. I enjoy some of the memes that originate from there, but yeah I stay away now.

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

@Philantrophy said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan Basicly a forum without restrictions.

Stopped reading after child porn.

i'm surprised you haven't heard of it. yeah, porn is posted there. mostly random board and /s/ for sexy woman.

i was going to say stop using it but it seems like you are working on it.

@Sooty: I am not sure if you read my post fully, but I listed the websites I would not visit and said I would only visit things like news, games and long form video.