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Citizen of the Online World
Prior to the pandemic, 95% of my life was spent offline. For over a decade, I just didn’t have time for social media. Around the time I turned 30, I became obsessed with disc golf and criss-crossed the state of Wisconsin playing every course I could find. It was a perfect leisurely activity to incorporate into weekend camping trips, and a far more natural experience compared to the manicured sterility of traditional golf courses. Each course is a testament to the variety of terrain Wisconsin possesses.
Eventually, I would go even deeper and start competing in tournaments. For the next 10 years, my schedule from March to October rarely changed. Eight hours for work, six hours for disc golf, and whatever else I could fit in there was a bonus. Fridays were travel days on tournament weekends, and if not, it was casual rounds all weekend. My job at the time allowed me to travel farther afield and compete from Colorado to upstate New York to North Carolina and many stops in between. I was content with that as my social network and with life in general.
Five years ago, I tepidly ventured back into the online world as a way of promoting a home business, attempting to turn my passion for disc golf into a profession. I tried out Facebook for the first time and learned quickly what a morass that can be. I signed up for Twitter and saw how toxic that could be, especially in an…
