# Did people enjoy staying indoors before the internet?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 27, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172 "2005-02-27T19:33:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/1 "2005-02-27T19:33:31Z")
I am wondering what did all those lonely people, the ones that sit in front of their computer all day at home, do before the internet. I can guess that it must of been hard for them, no sense of community and society looking down on you the whole time. Society still looks down on us, but I wonder what it would of been like for me if I did not have the internet.
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### Author:  [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/2 "2005-02-27T19:37:44Z")
I’d assume the less interactive television screen was the focus of attention for many internet junkies today. Before I had the internet I read more books than I do now, though I still try and keep up with some form of recreational non-electronic reading.
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### Author:  [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/3 "2005-02-28T00:26:38Z")
There’s also board games, card games, non-internet computer games, video games…
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### Author:  [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/4 "2005-02-28T00:37:22Z")
I read. Constantly. To be honest, that’s still what I do online, mostly. I go to different websites, and read them.
Of course, I was still in single digits at the time of Prodigy/AOL becoming household names, so I might not be the best person to ask.
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### Author:  [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/5 "2005-02-28T00:54:13Z")
The television was my friend. It still is, but moreso for noise than anything else since I seem to be permanently attached to this seat in front of my computer 🙂
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/6 "2005-02-28T01:08:58Z")
I was never a “go out” kind of person. Before the Internet, I spent vast amounts of time sitting in my room playing my guitar, or my bass, and singing and learning to play all sorts of new songs. I read voraciously, too.
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### Author:  [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/7 "2005-02-28T01:36:48Z")
I was happier before I found the internet. It’s more frustration than it need be.
And I used to read a whole lot more.
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### Author:  [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/8 "2005-02-28T01:46:34Z")
> [@Lakai](#):
>
> …Society still looks down on us, but I wonder what it would of been like for me if I did not have the internet.
C’mon it’s not like all the DOPERS do is get on the internet and watch the message board for movement, I know your not saying that but it is kind of implied.
We all have friends and a real social life.
Before the internet and TV, I would guess that Board Games would have been fun.
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### Author:  [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/9 "2005-02-28T02:52:50Z")
It is only implied to people who are really trying to avoid the stigma of being labeled a nerd because they post on a message board. Don’t worry about it, everyone knows you are cool.
I know you did not say that, but it is implied.
BTW, I was only talking about me.
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### Author:  [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/10 "2005-02-28T03:36:50Z")
Yes, they did. There was this thing called a television which people sat in front of.
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### Author:  [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/11 "2005-02-28T03:37:40Z")
I stayed indoors reading a lot before we had the 'net. I don’t recall being looked down on. I do remember writing more letters. Email’s wonderful.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2005, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-people-enjoy-staying-indoors-before-the-internet/292172/12 "2005-02-28T10:00:35Z")
I stayed indoors a lot, after I became a teenager. When I was a child, I did a lot of bike-riding and such, but once I started developing, well, D cup breasts WILL bounce no matter what sort of bra is attempting to contain them. As I was a very shy teen, I hated the way I bounced. I had always been a bookworm, to the extent that the school and public libraries knew me and allowed me to check out more books than the official limit for kids, and so I withdrew further into books. I also enjoyed playing board and card games, when I could find someone who’d play me, and I played a lot of solitaire. If Dungeons&Dragons had been around when I was a kid, there’s a good chance that I’d have started playing it. I did a lot of artsy-craftsy things too…I taught myself how to knit, crochet, tat, and embroider, and improved my sewing machine skills. I made tack for my toy horses (I didn’t play with dolls much at all, but I did love my toy horses) from brown paper bags and wire.
Mind you, I’d have spent a lot of time on the internet and/or with video games if they’d been available when I was a kid. But the video games didn’t come out until a bit after I was married, I believe. I did spend a lot of time and quarters on pinball.