The Internet has completely changed our lives, from one end to another. Everything we do is different. We do our jobs differently than we would have twenty, thirty years ago. And we also do things at home differently.
That brings us to our question this week. We know a lot of people play games online, but other than that, what do you do to spend time and relax online? Social networking? Shopping? Watching entertainment? Reading news? Reading tech help sites? We asked a few of our writers this week, “Other than playing games, how do you spend your free time online?”
Our Opinion
We found that everyone spends their time differently. Derrik does many different things with his free time online. He likes to watch YouTube videos as much as he likes working on his own YouTube channel. He also likes to browse and keep up with reddit, Tumblr, and Twitter.
Ada doesn’t play online games but spends most free time browsing, noting “I usually do some sort of research.” With an ongoing home improvement project, “I am constantly looking for stuff and info about remodeling, home repairs, etc.,” not to mention recipes, health info for elder neighbors, and pet info for friends who don’t know English.
Simon gets very social in his free time. “I have a great group I keep in contact with with members from around the world, and it’s always fun.” Additionally he enjoys watching streaming content “from competitive games to someone working on an art project.” He finds that it makes great background sound while he gets other things done, so maybe that’s not just his free time.
Phil explains he doesn’t “want” to spend all his free time on Facebook, “but for some bizarre reason that’s the platform I use to publish my every harebrained passing thought.” He blogs on the social network to a restricted audience of invited friends and family. “It’s like the worst magic show put on by adoring parents for their snotty eight-year-old kid and everyone golf claps,” he jokes. He wishes he had more time for it, but he does spend a little time collecting things he would like to make in the future.
Charnita is a busy woman; she doesn’t have free time online. But if she did have free time, she’d love to spend it on sites like Pinterest and StumbleUpon to find cool things from recipes to DIY projects to web tools. She’d also like to shop online as she knows there are a lot of deals out there, and she’d like to take advantage of it. Additionally, she’d like to take some online courses.
As for myself, like Phil I do a fair amount of Facebook, but I don’t really consider that free time, as it’s not “extra.” It’s just built into my daily life. And what complicates it for me even more is that my work time blends in with my free time. Along with writing and editing tech, I also write and edit entertainment. So every TV and movie I watch becomes work, and my research I do in entertainment news is actually what I would do if I wasn’t working. So I don’t have “real” free time often, but when I do I enjoy shopping on a resale site/app called Poshmark. There are great deals there!
Your Opinion
Do you spend your free time online the same way our writers do? Do you spend it on social networking, researching, streaming, reading, and shopping? Or do you have other things you like to do in that found free time? Other than playing games, how do you spend your free time online?
Laura has spent nearly 20 years writing news, reviews, and op-eds, with more than 10 of those years as an editor as well. She has exclusively used Apple products for the past three decades. In addition to writing and editing at MTE, she also runs the site’s sponsored review program.
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