Stephen King’s screen addiction

Stephen King never considered himself a fan of digital communication. Then the curmudgeonly author read a story reporting that the average American adult sits for eight and a half hours a day before various screens. He thought, “They can’t be talking about me. I don’t Twitter, I’m not on Facebook, I’ve never shopped on Craigslist, and I’ve made exactly one eBay purchase.” When King started keeping careful track of his daily computer and TV use, the results startled him. “I’m spending almost half of each day’s consciousness with my face bathed in electro-light,” he tells Entertainment Weekly. “For me, it breaks down like this: Three and a half hours writing in front of my desktop Mac. One hour a day writing and answering e-mails. One hour a day visiting my favorite websites. Two hours a day watching TV. I’m below the average, but still—seven and a half hours per day of computer-related activity? That’s a lot of voyeurism.” So he’s decided to cut back. “I’m closing in on 62. I might have 10 productive years left, 20 if I’m lucky and don’t get hit by any more minivans. When I ask myself how much of that time I want to spend playing online cribbage or watching cute-kitty videos instead of visiting family and friends, goofing with my idiotic dog, or out riding my motorcycle, the answer is, not too much. I don’t think any man or woman on his or her deathbed ever wished he or she had spent more time sending IMs.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up