My Internet Existence Background
I grew up in Indonesia, not in the city but in the mountains. I am privileged to have had a computer since I was kid. I’ve loved computers since KINDERGARTEN. Back then, my society was still very unfamiliar with tech.
When I was little, I liked to explore Wikipedia, old forums, anime forums, gaming mod forums. Sometimes I’d even go to internet cafes, not just to play counter strike, but to look for drawing tutorials on Deviantart, downloading some malicious pirated software, the prime time of curiousity.
Then I grew up, went to college, and social media became mainstream. In 2019-2020, the internet sphere got worse and worse, with COVID, everyone remote, everyone seeking relationships and stupid attention. It felt like my real-life society became zombies with their echo chambers. My real-life society saw online success only through “Influencers.” The system by Zuck made me tired, feeling like The Outsider, but my society used all of it.
So I quit, I didn’t want to sell my soul to that. I only use Whatsapp for communication like a boomer in a third world country (even in Whatsapp there is social media like feature like stories), and YouTube as a news source, watching some funny vtuber streams. The process of quitting wasn’t easy at all, brutal loneliness. During the process, there was the NFT thing, then ChatGPT was born, The Dead Internet Theory emerged, AI Slop Gen, Brainrot, etc. I felt like I was watching the internet become a post-apocalyptic place in real-time.
Growing up in a developing country, in a rural area, with a modest economic situation, and a society brainwashed by social media, many of my friends and family turned into something different (90% of them are depressed), while your soul longs for something real, genuine, and awesome side of the internet.. REALLY SUCKS Hahaha.
That’s when I started locking-in, getting obsessed with building a private digital diary system with Obsidian! Little by little, I started hitting the gym, making some bros in real life, run a marathon, work on my own trauma, and I think that’s 100x better than going to a therapist or psychiatrist. That’s one of the best decisions of my life.
2025, trying to come back to the internet. Let’s Goooo!