Before I got access to the Internet I sometimes had nothing to do. Nothing on TV, no new magazines to read, or friends were unavailable. Sometimes we were just bored together.
But since then there has always been something to do. It’s not just smartphones that take up all downtime, it’s been the Internet in general. There is always something new, and I’m not even on social media (unless you count forums).
Does anyone else have the same experience?
Meh, looking a computer screen all day at work and then looking at a smartphone or PC at home can get boring. Even unlimited free porn gets boring after awhile, let alone cat vidios and reels of people doing stupid things. Sometimes I get so bored I actually . . . go outside.
I would say I get bored less often, but haven’t been without boredom.
I haven’t been bored since someone gave me this advice when I was 14. “Never be caught anywhere without something to read”. Before the Internet, I always had a couple quarters for a newspaper on me; no matter what.
I saw something, recently, that was talking about the difference between boredom and ennui. On surveys people were replying that they were bored, constantly, at higher and higher rates every year. The author was suggesting that they were thinking of “ennui” as opposed to “I have nothing to do”. And that, in general, the reduction of “nothing to do” time has lead to the increase in ennui.
I agree with the sentiment. Looking at things flashing on screens might keep you from having to use your brain so much, but I’m not 100% sure that, that’s good for your mental health and capabilities.
See the other, current thread on angertainment.
I’ll admit I think I found myself somewhat bored around 1992. No internet and no TV where I bought my house. I had a job, it was 30 minutes away, as town was.
Of course I always had something to do as a first time home owner.
Lots has changed since then of course. Work from home (same house) and now have internet and TV. And now married. My Wife and I play about 10 games of chess a week. And I have a million things that I need to do.
As a child, I always hated to have to go to bed. We all did I think. Now I look forward to it. There is just too much shit to do.
I once knew the exact definition of ennui, but recently I have felt a loss of meaning.
actually, boredom and insomnia are why I found AOL then the internet, and the dope
I find it impossible to be bored with 6 cats and funny cat videos available online 24/7. Before I get bored with my live cats, I switch to watching cat videos, and visa versa, ad infinitum. Sometimes I watch funny cat videos with my cats.
Cats: they keep life interesting. 
My feelings of “I’ll never be bored again, what with the Internet providing me an endless ocean of interesting and fun stuff to explore!” faded by 2015 or so. Now, I can easily sit in front of my computer, with unlimited online access, and feel there’s nothing there to do…guess I’ll check out the SDMB.
The vast Internet is mostly watered-down redundancy and meaningless noise, and the good bits have already been explored and seen their better days, subjectively speaking.
I do have lots and lots to do in the real world, with my ever-evolving outdoors, hunting, crafts, music etc. projects.
I haven’t been bored for any significant length of time since I took up diversified farming, in the 1980’s. Exhausted, frustrated, and broke, yes; but not bored.
– the internet is full of fascinating stuff, but so is the rest of the world. Boredom is mostly a matter of what one chooses to pay attention to; at least, unless one is shut up inside with no choice of reading matter (whether online or not.)
I occasionally get into a state online in which I keep clicking on yet another similar link, but am not really interested in any of them. This can easily turn into boredom if I don’t have the sense to move away from the device and, probably, go to bed (it’s most likely to happen when I’m getting too tired to think.)
The only times I’ve been bored in my life are when I’ve been coerced into a situation I’ve had no control over, like going to church or being at a party with people I’m not interested in.
And yes, I’ve been bored of video games, bored of TV, bored of the internet, bored of reading, and all these things. But at any given time I have several major categories of things I’m not bored of. Including, on occasion, really mundane stuff like housework.
As long as alternatives are available, which they almost always are, I’m not going to be bored.
I count access to digital media as part of the internet. Every single piece of media (movies, TV, books, comics, manga) I currently have is exclusively procured through the internet–and I have vastly more than I will ever consume. (For decades most of it is learned about originally on the internet, too.)
I find that too broad a definition. So, if I’m now watching movies from the 1980’s, that were made pre-internet, and were commonly available pre-internet, they are part of the internet?
That’s kinda like using an online auction site to buy an antique piece of furniture and submitting that it’s actually a modern piece of furniture, due to the access conditions.
I vividly remember browsing paper catalogues to plan my next RPG, archery or book purchases, and wouldn’t think twice about going back to that. Improvement in accessibility is overstated, if you ask me.
I wouldn’t say that I have never been bored recently, but I can certainly agree that my tolerance for standing in line has gone up 10,000% since the popularization of the handheld computer.
I remember many occasions, as a kid in the '80s, of being bored out of my skull waiting for things, in situations where kids nowadays would probably just goof around on their phones.
I’d say if you purchase a hard-copy of a movie online, then play it on a device in your home, that is not using the internet to watch a movie.
But, if you watch a movie streamed online, then that is using the internet to watch a movie.
In the first case you are simply using the internet as a store to buy a physical product. In the second case you are using an internet service for enjoyment. You are paying for it to stream valuable content into your eyes and ears…like Debbie Does Dallas. It doesn’t matter when or where the content itself is produced, you’re paying (or not paying) for the internet service.
My approach exactly. Although sometimes I wonder if I’m bored WHILE I’m reading…
I feel bored quite often. I also consider myself quite lazy. When I’m on the computer (with the exception of when I’m interacting with YOU fine folk!) I’m generally bored WHILE I waste time on-line. I’m just not putting in the effort to haul my lazy ass out of this chair and do something worthwhile.
My personal opinion is that many folk spend time on-line giving themselves th illusion that they are doing SOMETHING, when, in fact, they are just passing/wasting time.
How do you know if you are passing time or doing something meaningful? Is there really a difference between scrolling on my phone or talking with a coworker by the water cooler?
Well, a lot of casual chit chat qualifies as wasting time IMO, but at the water cooler, at least there is the aspect of directly interacting with a human being, in an exchange in which you are somewhat actively involved.
I read quite a bit, which I imagine many folk might consider wasting/passing time. But I mainly engage with my devices when I’m seeking to escape the boring tedium of my world. When I’m on my own time, I’d generally prefer to be doing countless other things - or nothing.
Sure. It’s like saying “I haven’t been bored since I moved into this library”. If the library was built in 2005 and you read a book from 1975, it still counts, right? The internet is a means of access.