Verge journalist Paul Miller took a year off the internet. He wrote about the experience the entire time (physically submitting his articles along the way.) It is an interesting series of articles that cover some of the same issues here. His conclusions were, I believe, different than the author here, due in large part to the scale involved in his experiment.
That was a great essay, thanks for linking. The writer’s experiences overlapped with my own, as I dropped off of Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Reddit/Snapchat a couple years ago. I still find those platforms distasteful and have no desire to go back to them, but the isolation is real. When you drop off, people really do forget to talk to you. It becomes a real effort and a struggle to keep up friendships. Like people forget you exist when you’re not broadcasting. It’s a little unnerving, and it brings up all sorts of existential anxieties.
https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/1/4279674/im-still-here-back...