I'm not OP and no, TikTok is absolutely a no-go for me. I couldn't care less about trends tbh.
I don't think giving up completely is the goal, it's just a temporary measure. When you're used to spending two hours a day on YouTube, you can't just watch a video because then you'll just watch another and another and another for two hours
I'm trying to use this whole reddit madness to quit using the internet for anything that isn't intentional. The fact that I'm here writing a comment shows that it's not going perfectly, but so far reducing the time I spend scrolling or watching YouTube has definitely improved my headspace.
The simple act of not using my phone or any other screen until I get out of home in the morning makes me so much more energetic and my mind more clear.
It's a fucking addiction and most of us have it without realizing. The horrible part is that quitting cuts you out of so much stuff, but it really is worth it.
It's an old (early-internet?) joke iirc. And yes, I think that's the answer
I'd like to add that it would be nice to warn about spoilers about very old games too. I don't think that should be a rule, but just nice.
The whole "dude that game came out 30 years ago" argument doesn't make sense because not everyone plays everything (and not everyone has your age).
It kinda happened for me with Fallout New Vegas. I was maybe 11 and never played anything from the series. I spent my time killer hobo-ing my way through but I always felt like I was missing something, then I started reading negative opinions about it online and got influence by that, so I dropped it. After some time I played Fallout 3 after hearing people saying it was much better, I liked and I too thought it was much better than New Vegas but decided to give NV another shot (I was 12 or 13 by then). I loved it to the point where it is probably on the top of my emotional top 10. It got me into 50s/60s music, got me interested in politics and ethics, made me become a fan of science fiction and old school RPGs focused on story and a variety of approaches. Really a fantastic game.
EDIT: wanted to add that nowadays I really can't play FO3 without thinking that I could just play NV instead. That's how much I love that game
Find interesting stuff -> not now -> leave tab open for later -> notice it hours/days/weeks later -> not now -> repeat untill closed without reading
I'm Gen Z and when I was little my parents were (rightfully) very careful with how much time I spent on the internet. Even so, I saw from a distance the old internet, where forums were a thing and you could find lots of cool websites that people made for reasons that weren't limited to promoting or selling something.
When I discovered Reddit it was like I could somehow experience that time, but for many the decline had already started.
I love interacting with people, asking and answering questions, discovering and making others discover new things, but I just can't stand feeling like everything and everyone is trying to sell me something anymore.
Now that I'm here, I feel like this could be the place, at least for a while.