Friday Fives #2 - Internet Distractions

The wonderful people at Paperback Hangover has this funky notion of providing a list of 5 things writerly and/or readerly every Friday. This week's prompt is:

The FIVE most distracting things on the Internet....

So, in order from least distracting to most, here are my five:

5. KOL
Yes, I am completely addicted to Kingdom of Loathing. As in absolutely, irrevocably and delightfully.

If you are not familiar with the game, it's a browser-based game that satirises traditional RPG type games while offering a very complex and hilarious world to get lost in. It may not look like much, but it's great fun and the community is incredible. Highly recommended but beware: it's addictive!

4. Gmail/Chatzilla
I spend a surprising amount of time chattering away on the internet, especially considering how private and shy I am in meatspace. I've built up a solid network of online friends, and it's sad but true that you are more likely to reach me (meatspace me, that is) by way of e-mail than by phone or dropping in on me. This is despite the fact that I spend most of my time in front of the computer - I simply don't open up if I don't feel like visiting, and I almost never do!

3. Twitter
It's the hashtags! Like mentioned previously, strenuous scientific studies have revealed that the best hastag in the world for writers and those interested in writing is #amwriting so I'm mostly hanging out there. However, there are so many tags, so many people, so many interests!


2. Goodreads
Yeah, well. What can I say. I'm a bibliophile before anything else, so I spend a LOT of time here reading up on books and reading and the reading world.


1. Blogs and blogging! 
Easily 85% of my computer time goes into blogs and blogging. Reading blogs is something like a compulsion with me, although as I mentioned I'm not really very social, so I don't usually comment. I mostly frequent blogs about things that are important to me, like skepticism, feminism, writing and reading.

I also get lost among hyperlinks very quickly and suffer dramatically from the "follow the white rabbit" syndrome - you know how it goes. You go somewhere, thinking 'Okay, just quickly reading this,' and before you know it three hours and thirty webpages have passed and you have no memory of exactly what links you followed to get to a mama cat hugging her kitten from a serious blog post on writing and structure.