For many people and companies, unplanned Internet outage means loss of money, market credibility and even loss of opportunity. But more importantly, an unexpected interruption in Internet access can affect your emotional wellbeing. How could something like a lack of Web connectivity have such a huge impact on our lives? Can it be that your Internet connection has become your real sixth sense?
A recent event literally put me into a tailspin: An unexpected Internet outage made me realize how truly personal the whole Internet experience has become for all of us as we individually sculpt our own relationship with the Internet. And that it’s possible our wired world has become a true indication of how we are wired internally.
It was supposed to be a typical Monday morning. Up at 5:00 a.m., dog out, juice in, followed by a short trek upstairs to start the day at the home office for some quality production time. Everything seemed normal until I realized I had no Internet connection. Don’t panic right? Just follow the steps. Breathe slowly. Walk, don’t run, and simply reboot the modem and wireless router and let it all just redeem itself -- but nothing.
I contacted my ISP customer service to find out it’s a third party fiber cut literally shutting the whole town down without access. So, here I am, ready to produce and perform, but how? Without Internet connection I felt helpless and alone, and I started losing most of my ambition to do anything at all. Am I addicted? Am I insane?
For some reason, this Internet outage was different from any other I experienced. It was the first time it completely altered my mood. But as far as I can tell I’m not addicted to the Net. I am dependent on it for work as I have been for years. However, this time the impact was far greater than some intermittent inconvenience or some lost business productivity.
For me, the issue was not so much that I was without a connection, but that I did not control the timeframe of being disconnected. I realized there are many times I choose not to be online, but having it taken away without it being my call was really the ultimate issue for me. I realized how many times I have heard people comment over the years about their connection issues or situations where technology disrupted their flow in some manner.
After examining those 10 hours of disconnection, I realized how great an impact the Net has on my own psyche. When you are forced offline, something must trigger in your brain like the symptoms of an invading cold or flu. Somehow you seem less valuable, more vulnerable, and certainly frustrated at anything or anybody.
After my connection returned, I spent some time looking up psychology and Internet use and I found an enormous digital pile of material on how the Internet and psychology truly intersect. I was aware of Internet addiction and some of the social aspects of how Internet creates problems for younger users; however, I never thought I would become so emotionally influenced by something that really did not matter at the end of the day.
We all use the Internet for so many reasons, but if you think about it, how we approach the Internet in good times and bad is reflective of who we really are. After countless hours online over so many years, I’m guessing my own traffic patterns and usage log files might give an accurate indication of my true personality. Perhaps the Internet is evolving to become our newest mental appendage with the first real artificial connection between us and the online world.
For many people and companies, unplanned Internet outage means loss of money, market credibility and even loss of opportunity. But more importantly, an unexpected interruption in Internet access can affect your emotional wellbeing. How could something like a lack of Web connectivity have such a huge impact on our lives? Can it be that your Internet connection has become your real sixth sense?
A recent event literally put me into a tailspin: An unexpected Internet outage made me realize how truly personal the whole Internet experience has become for all of us as we individually sculpt our own relationship with the Internet. And that it’s possible our wired world has become a true indication of how we are wired internally.
It was supposed to be a typical Monday morning. Up at 5:00 a.m., dog out, juice in, followed by a short trek upstairs to start the day at the home office for some quality production time. Everything seemed normal until I realized I had no Internet connection. Don’t panic right? Just follow the steps. Breathe slowly. Walk, don’t run, and simply reboot the modem and wireless router and let it all just redeem itself -- but nothing.
I contacted my ISP customer service to find out it’s a third party fiber cut literally shutting the whole town down without access. So, here I am, ready to produce and perform, but how? Without Internet connection I felt helpless and alone, and I started losing most of my ambition to do anything at all. Am I addicted? Am I insane?
For some reason, this Internet outage was different from any other I experienced. It was the first time it completely altered my mood. But as far as I can tell I’m not addicted to the Net. I am dependent on it for work as I have been for years. However, this time the impact was far greater than some intermittent inconvenience or some lost business productivity.
For me, the issue was not so much that I was without a connection, but that I did not control the timeframe of being disconnected. I realized there are many times I choose not to be online, but having it taken away without it being my call was really the ultimate issue for me. I realized how many times I have heard people comment over the years about their connection issues or situations where technology disrupted their flow in some manner.
After examining those 10 hours of disconnection, I realized how great an impact the Net has on my own psyche. When you are forced offline, something must trigger in your brain like the symptoms of an invading cold or flu. Somehow you seem less valuable, more vulnerable, and certainly frustrated at anything or anybody.
After my connection returned, I spent some time looking up psychology and Internet use and I found an enormous digital pile of material on how the Internet and psychology truly intersect. I was aware of Internet addiction and some of the social aspects of how Internet creates problems for younger users; however, I never thought I would become so emotionally influenced by something that really did not matter at the end of the day.
We all use the Internet for so many reasons, but if you think about it, how we approach the Internet in good times and bad is reflective of who we really are. After countless hours online over so many years, I’m guessing my own traffic patterns and usage log files might give an accurate indication of my true personality. Perhaps the Internet is evolving to become our newest mental appendage with the first real artificial connection between us and the online world.
For many people and companies, unplanned Internet outage means loss of money, market credibility and even loss of opportunity. But more importantly, an unexpected interruption in Internet access can affect your emotional wellbeing. How could something like a lack of Web connectivity have such a huge impact on our lives? Can it be that your Internet connection has become your real sixth sense?
A recent event literally put me into a tailspin: An unexpected Internet outage made me realize how truly personal the whole Internet experience has become for all of us as we individually sculpt our own relationship with the Internet. And that it’s possible our wired world has become a true indication of how we are wired internally.
It was supposed to be a typical Monday morning. Up at 5:00 a.m., dog out, juice in, followed by a short trek upstairs to start the day at the home office for some quality production time. Everything seemed normal until I realized I had no Internet connection. Don’t panic right? Just follow the steps. Breathe slowly. Walk, don’t run, and simply reboot the modem and wireless router and let it all just redeem itself -- but nothing.
I contacted my ISP customer service to find out it’s a third party fiber cut literally shutting the whole town down without access. So, here I am, ready to produce and perform, but how? Without Internet connection I felt helpless and alone, and I started losing most of my ambition to do anything at all. Am I addicted? Am I insane?
For some reason, this Internet outage was different from any other I experienced. It was the first time it completely altered my mood. But as far as I can tell I’m not addicted to the Net. I am dependent on it for work as I have been for years. However, this time the impact was far greater than some intermittent inconvenience or some lost business productivity.
For me, the issue was not so much that I was without a connection, but that I did not control the timeframe of being disconnected. I realized there are many times I choose not to be online, but having it taken away without it being my call was really the ultimate issue for me. I realized how many times I have heard people comment over the years about their connection issues or situations where technology disrupted their flow in some manner.
After examining those 10 hours of disconnection, I realized how great an impact the Net has on my own psyche. When you are forced offline, something must trigger in your brain like the symptoms of an invading cold or flu. Somehow you seem less valuable, more vulnerable, and certainly frustrated at anything or anybody.
After my connection returned, I spent some time looking up psychology and Internet use and I found an enormous digital pile of material on how the Internet and psychology truly intersect. I was aware of Internet addiction and some of the social aspects of how Internet creates problems for younger users; however, I never thought I would become so emotionally influenced by something that really did not matter at the end of the day.
We all use the Internet for so many reasons, but if you think about it, how we approach the Internet in good times and bad is reflective of who we really are. After countless hours online over so many years, I’m guessing my own traffic patterns and usage log files might give an accurate indication of my true personality. Perhaps the Internet is evolving to become our newest mental appendage with the first real artificial connection between us and the online world.
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