Can You Be a Casual Internet Junkie?

I was pondering this question over the last few days while I thought about my interests in the web 2.0 'sphere. Can you really be a junkie if you only have the time for it to be a casual interest? Sometimes I don't feel like I have time to keep up with the internet. I am signed up on so many sites that I don't have time to use. I just signed up for Freindfeed just because I heard it was cool. I could spend hours reading through feeds, writing reviews, updating a blog, or tweeting it up. I sign up for sites that I just hear about, I'm not even sure if I'll use it or not.

It really leads me to my next question. Why do I enjoy web 2.0 so much? Well, I think it comes down to contribution and interaction. I want to be able to learn and share with others. I want to have fun and intelligent conversations about technology, local issues, the economy. I want to learn what's interesting to other people that have the same (or sometimes differing) interests. That's what makes it so great. You don't have 1 site to check for news or opinion, you can see the ebb and flow of what's important to people everywhere.

For now, I think I'll be a casual junkie. I'll get to the computer when I can. It's a hobby. Maybe some day it will be more than that, but that's definitely not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for opportunities to open my mind and to contribute to the greater cloud of the web.

What I Really Look Forward to Reading Online...

If you've taken any notice to the Google reader shared articles feed, I probably read a blog called TechDirt the most. It keeps me up to speed on a lot of different things that are going on with media, patents, business models, and how it affects consumers, businesses and the world as a whole. Their articles encompass a lot of different subjects. They also post around 10 times a day, so there's always something new. I took a little break from content for about a month, so I'm trying to catch up to today's posts. Only 80 more to go. If you really want to keep up to date on what's going on in the technology world, with some great commentary and discussion, I suggest you check them out.

My Inconsistent Blogging

I just realized that I blog so little that my wife has taken me off of her list of blogs she reads. I'm probably still in her Google reader though. But can you blame her? I'm still pretty involved with Facebook, at least enough to keep up with the friends updates. I'm also a little enthralled with twitter right now, so maybe that's my new outlet. The content I do get to read I usually share through Google reader or comment on in either Facebook or twitter. So my web 2.0 usability just seems to come in waves. I really only keep up with 1 to 2 things at a time. We'll see if I can keep up with anything long enough where it is considered a sustainable hobby.