I keep cutting out things like social media from my lifestyle, but I’m finding it hard to fill the time. Reading can only go so far, there’s never anything on TV, and my friends all live twelve miles away.

So, before we really had social media, what did teenagers do?

  • maegul (he/they)@lemmy.ml
    8·
    1 year ago
    • reading
    • TV / movies
    • video games
    • listening to music (it’s important to remember that this was an active thing to do … you’d listen to an album beginning to end, digest it, read about it etc)
    • playing music
    • Hanging out with friends, either doing some of the above or going here and there on pushbikes.

    Not gonna lie, I honestly think it was overall better. If the internet were just Wikipedia, blogs and casual non-profit social media, the world would be a better place.

  • narF@lemmy.ml
    4·
    1 year ago

    I was reading more and spending time creating (drawing and making animated shirts in Flash!)

  • dreamLogic@slrpnk.netEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    Getting a time consuming hobby like wood working or programming or something that can pay off in the long run is I think probably a wise route to go.

    • n7gifmdn@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      @hellfire103@sopuli.xyz this right here. Try lots of things & find what you are interested in. If you are still a teen yourself I’d highly recommending finding a local 4-H club, they’re a great place to learn a new hobby with others and from experienced folks who want to share.

  • KnightOfOldEmpire@lemmy.ml
    2·
    1 year ago

    Library (it was fun spotting a book I haven’t read yet), comics (waiting for salles so I could get a bulk of them for cheap), rollerblade (until you discover that the road is bad and the poor wheels just can’t handle it), table top wargames (fun putting models together and doing pew pew sounds one a month with friends). DnD was also occasionally thrown in, but without proper DM the stories are just terrible and teens be doing rather immature things.

    • n7gifmdn@lemmy.ca
      1·
      1 year ago

      @hellfire103@sopuli.xyz if your friends are 12 miles away your local board game store is probably that far too, but most shops have regular game days welcoming players of all ages.

  • colinA
    2·
    1 year ago

    so the “obvious” thing that’s doable even when solo is just “hobbies”. music making, game making, pottery if you can get ahold of (someone with) a kiln, drawing, etc.

    but on the non-creative side (because let’s be honest as a teen you’re often too mentally exhausted from school for those), hop on a bike, choose a direction, and find all the weird treasures on the outskirts of town. plenty of “weird things in the desert” and all that — but people take that trope too literally to notice that it’s really “weird things in the places people don’t frequent”: last week i stumbled across a few pallets of bees staged off a gravel road 5mi from my home. dunno if they’re being transported, brought in for pollination, or what, but it was a fun find all the same.

  • Riley@social.audiovalentine.com
    1·
    1 year ago

    I mean the thing that still trips me up the most is that social media and phones still takes away from other tech stuff that I’d enjoy doing more. When I was younger I used to play a lot of Game Boy Advance and then later PSP. Once I got a phone it became just that little bit more difficult to focus on just enjoying playing games!

  • PicoBlaanket@lemmy.ml
    1·
    1 year ago

    Basically getting sweaty, and challenging yourself…

    • tromping around in the woods,
    • riding a bike,
    • swimming at a pool/creek,
    • playing sports (and especially inventing new sports).

    Being strong and tough for its own sake.