Refression

Everyone has a favorite button, right? Some love 'undo', others 'paste', some like 'quit', others 'reboot'... lots of options! I have one too.

*refresh*

Or at least you'd think that's my personal favorite. Why? Because I feel the need to

*refresh*

my Facebook profile, hoping for new notifications;

*refresh*

my e-mail, looking for new messages;

*refresh*

Twitter to get the latest update about Calvin Harris's eating habits;

*refresh*

Facebook again... notifications, please...

*refresh*

Oh look, an e-mail! Damn, spam.

*refresh*

Are you sure I've had no new notifications in the past 16 seconds?!

*refresh*
*refresh*
*refresh*
*refreshing mineral water*
*what?*
*refresh*

...aaaaand eventually, total braindeath.

*refresh*

I'm telling you, it's addicting! It's beyond my control! It gives me hope, excitement, then disappointment... It's something new every time! It's so refreshing!

So, what's your button obsession? (Let me guess, "Escape! F1! Get me outta this website right now!")

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NOTE ON NOTIFICATIONS:
Now seriously, how many of you eagerly await the little red pop-up notifications on Facebook? They're the cutest little things, right? Too bad most of them are spam... something about pointless quizzes, hatching eggs, friendship battles, mafia wars, friend comparisons, virtual puppies, hugs, kisses, headbutts, and so on... I do love notifications oh so much. But the best feeling was the day I re-activated my Facebook account after it was frozen for over a month; I had 97 precious notifications! :D About 97% of them were total spam. But whatever, I wanted to print a screen grab and show people how popular I am, with so many notifications! Haha, crazy stuff. Sometimes I can't even understand why I'm that obsessed. Oh well...

3 a.m.

Normal people go to bed at 3:13 a.m.
Normal people want to sleep at night.
Normal people don't check Facebook at that hour because, frankly, no one would really write on anyone's wall at that time (in the particular time zone).

So why do I feel the need to refresh my FB profile only to find out someone took some silly quiz (holy smokes, are those darn Facebook quizzes addicting or what?!), someone gave me points in the Friendship Battle, and someone cared enough for me to send me a virtual hug. Aww. I should feel loved, right?

Tonight I spent about 8 hours away from the internet! Nice, I like that! Didn't even feel them; I think I had a bit too much fun with REAL friends, not so much with DIGITAL friends. :)At times I do wonder where exactly this addiction comes from? Why, oh why, is it happening to me?

Seen as I believe that everything happens for a reason, I guess there is some sort of reasoning behind my digital addiction - and it better be well worth it!!!

00001

I remember the first time I touched a computer. Vaguely.
It was quite a few years ago, maybe 1995, around the time when I was heavily addicted to the Lion King video game for my Super Nintendo (and Simba kept falling of giraffes' heads in level 3, making my life miserable). My parents had a couple of old Macs in their office. I had little idea of what these machines were capable of doing, but I had surely discovered the best thing Macs could offer: Fireworks. At least I think that's what the application was called... It was a collection of really random characters and effects, sort of like screensavers; there was a dragon walking up and down the screen setting folders on fire, "rockettes" dancing can-can, some robot creature destroying the desktop, and so on. Exciting stuff! And that, my friends, is the extent to which I remember these first digital encounters.
***
I got my very own PC in 1998 and that's about the time when I discovered the most amazing thing ever created: the Internet! Bless the military for starting it up! (see, that's one good side of warfare right there)
***
I got my second PC in 2003 when the first one died a slow death. This one was much faster and I could play tons of really cool games on it! (Oh, my obsession with the Lion King Super Nintendo game ended abruptly in 1996 when I lent the disk to some boy and never saw it again... but I remember it too well and still hold a grudge for that kid, whoever he was). Right.
***
I got my first laptop in 2006. Too much thrill for its own good! Mobile computer magic all the way!
***
I got my Facebook account in 2006. I now have 863 friends, and counting! Of these, I've probably only met about 52,5%. But you know what, Facebook friends make me feel oh so populah! ;)
***
I froze my Facebook account in April 2009.
"What, life without Facebook?!" "You can't leave us!" "What are you thinking?!"
Such were comments by my friends when I told them the shocking news.
I learned to live without Facebook, and it was good.
***
By the end of May 2009, a little over a month since the beginning of my abstention, peer pressure and such forced me to reactivate my account once more.
Hello, 863 friends! Hello, Facebook addiction! Unstoppable. Maybe even worse than before! Uncontrollable. Addiction. Taking. Over. My. Life.
Hence this blog. The confessions of a digital addict...