[Nasrudith]

Are you joking? Peer communication is the most toxic, Lord Of The Flies things there is. Notice how much office politics is high school bullshit? That is what happens when you have norms set by an isolated incestuous prison-mimicking subset of society cut off from experience and wisdom.

Consuming an infinite amount of media is positively wholesome by comparison.

[Zambyte]

Your high school and work experience sounds completely different from mine. I grew up in a very rural area. My options outside of school and sports (both not accounting for the whole year for me) were to talk to my friends on the internet, talk to strangers on the internet, consume infinite media from the internet, or isolating myself. I spend a very large portion of my free time either talking to my friends, or talking to strangers and my friends at the same time. I don't think you'll be able to convince me that I would have been better off choosing any other options.

As for work, I have had a hard time leaving jobs, because to me that also means leaving the people I work with. I guess my office life is similar to my high school life in the sense that I actually like(d) the people around me.