Chronically Online

About

Chronically Online also Extremely Online or Terminally Online is a slang term that describes someone who spends a lot of time on the internet, often to the point where they spend more time online than offline and become out of touch with the real world. The term is often used ironically and self-deprecatingly, but also mockingly to refer to someone who has become deeply immersed in niche fandoms, online drama, news and debates and cancel culture and puts precedence on online interactions over real-life interactions, believing things that have an effect on online culture have a comparable effect on offline culture even when they don't. Although its exact origins are unclear, the term became increasingly popular throughout the 2010s, seeing regular use in the 2020s.

Origin

Extremely Online

The term "extremely online" has been used online since at least 2014.^[1] As early as August 2015, comedian Nick Mullen, creator of the Cum Town podcast, used the Twitter handle "extremely online guy."^[2] On August 18th, 2016, Twitter^[3] user @dubstep4dads posted, "RT if ironic memes have rendered you unable to express genuine feelings to others but ur ok with it because being extremely online rules lol," gaining over 2,500 likes and 1,000 retweets in six years. On May 29th, 2018, the Daily Dot^[4] published an article titled, "What does it mean to be Extremely Online?" where they define "extremely online," using Twitter account dril as an example of someone who caters to extremely online people.

Terminally Online / Chronically Online

The terms "terminally online" and "chronically online," meaning the same thing as "extremely online," became further popularized in the mid-to-late 2010s and early 2020s. "Chronically online" has been used online since at least 2016,^[5] but was first defined on Urban Dictionary^[6] in June 2021 by several users, including illwegal, who defines it as:

Someone who is basically always on the internet and their entire existence revolves around being on the internet. People who are chronically online typically have no real friends IRL, and stay online starting useless debates that literally achieve nothing outside of a screen.

"Terminally Online" started to become popular in mid-2017 on Twitter,^[7] with the earliest example on the site from user @neoliberal_dad reading, "…to the charges that I am terminally online I say,let he who has not perused Uncle Karl's Meme Emporium at 3 AM cast the first own…"

Spread

The idea of being chronically online has inspired numerous discussions and memes throughout the 2010s and 2020s. On August 15th, 2019, William Hawes published an essay titled, "Questioning the Extremely Online" to Medium,^[8] discussing how being extremely online plays into modern day political discourse. On October 22nd, 2020, Vox^[9] published an article suggesting then President Donald Trump is too online. Reason^[10] published an article making similar claims the next day, titled, "Was the Final Presidential Debate Incomprehensible to Normies?"

Around August 2021, a trend spread around TikTok where users shared the most "chronically online" takes they've ever seen, helping spread the term (compilation shown below).

On October 24th, 2021, Instagram^[11] user shitthisthereal posted a meme about being chronically online, gaining over 8,100 likes in 10 months (shown below, left). On April 21st, 2022, Instagram^[12] user manicpixiememequeen posted a meme using the phrase, gaining over 9,900 likes in four months (shown below, right). On July 31st, Twitter^[13] user @kurtisconner posted, "can u guys send me any 'chronically online' takes that you’ve seen pls," gaining over 35,000 likes in a week.

Chronically Online People / Memes / Behavior

In November 2020, Twitch was described as "talk radio for the extremely online" by Thrillist.^[14] That month, David Adams described No Nut November as extremely online in an article for Pedestrian.tv.^[15]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References