I was once one of Wikipedia's most active editors, and was an administrator between 2006 and 2008. I wrote hundreds of articles, including two featured and several good ones. I once enjoyed editing Wikipedia, but it began taking over my life. I sometimes used to stay up until 3 in the morning on here, getting sucked into silly discussions about pointless things. I became frustrated with the way things were going on here, and said and did a lot of things I regret. However, I was addicted and couldn't leave. Over the years I made a few new accounts, in an attempt to start again, but this failed because I simply got involved in the discussions again.
Ultimately, the only way forward was to go cold turkey, and leave completely. This was surprisingly easier than it sounds. What helped was that I was so busy in real life, and I just ensured I had no time to come on here. Soon it was just a memory. I didn't want to make a dramatic exit - in fact, the exit wasn't even planned, but after a few days of not editing, I vowed to myself I would never edit it again. And I haven't, until today.
So why have I come back now? Recently, I've been reading over really old discussions that I was a part of - stuff long forgotten about - and thinking to myself - "Did I really waste all those years arguing about that?" The trivial stuff I got involved in really makes me amazed at how I've changed. As I was reading, I realised - I no longer care about any of this. This is why I could never come back to Wikipedia. I simply have no interest in it anymore. Plus I don't have time for it, and real life needs to come first. But I noticed how untidily I'd left my userspace, and so thought while I tidy it up I would just leave this message for anyone who cares.
It was good for the most part. I even feel I made some friends on here. But this is definitely something in my past, and will always be that way.
I was once one of Wikipedia's most active editors, and was an administrator between 2006 and 2008. I wrote hundreds of articles, including two featured and several good ones. I once enjoyed editing Wikipedia, but it began taking over my life. I sometimes used to stay up until 3 in the morning on here, getting sucked into silly discussions about pointless things. I became frustrated with the way things were going on here, and said and did a lot of things I regret. However, I was addicted and couldn't leave. Over the years I made a few new accounts, in an attempt to start again, but this failed because I simply got involved in the discussions again.
Ultimately, the only way forward was to go cold turkey, and leave completely. This was surprisingly easier than it sounds. What helped was that I was so busy in real life, and I just ensured I had no time to come on here. Soon it was just a memory. I didn't want to make a dramatic exit - in fact, the exit wasn't even planned, but after a few days of not editing, I vowed to myself I would never edit it again. And I haven't, until today.
So why have I come back now? Recently, I've been reading over really old discussions that I was a part of - stuff long forgotten about - and thinking to myself - "Did I really waste all those years arguing about that?" The trivial stuff I got involved in really makes me amazed at how I've changed. As I was reading, I realised - I no longer care about any of this. This is why I could never come back to Wikipedia. I simply have no interest in it anymore. Plus I don't have time for it, and real life needs to come first. But I noticed how untidily I'd left my userspace, and so thought while I tidy it up I would just leave this message for anyone who cares.
It was good for the most part. I even feel I made some friends on here. But this is definitely something in my past, and will always be that way.