Owen McDonnell, actor.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE THE INTERNET?
I probably go online almost every day now, but not for very long - I very rarely surf the net without a purpose. I'm a relative newcomer to the net, having been too old to have it at school, not bothered with it at university and then there seemed no need at drama school. I used to be a complete technophobe.
WHAT DO YOU USE THE INTERNET FOR?
I use the net for checking e-mails, research, and finding out about people I might be meeting to get a job. I get scripts, appointment details and any updates on stuff I'm working on. As I live in London, I try to keep up with what's going on in Ireland; listen to some radio, maybe watch some clips on RTÉ (www.rte.ie) - I'm trying to make Skype (www.skype.com) work for me but I'm having a lot of difficulties - I'm not sure if it's me or my machine.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE SITES?
My favourite sites are all a bit dull, I'm afraid - BBC (www.bbc.co.uk), RTÉ (www.rte.ie) and You Tube (www.youtube.com). I do have a severe weakness for GoogleEarth (earth.google.com). I will quite happily spend hours planning pretend trips around the world or trying to figure out when the photos were taken at any address I've ever lived at - there's something about seeing your own place on the web that's vaguely thrilling and disturbing.
HAVE YOU EVER BOUGHT ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET?
No, I have never bought or sold anything, bar flights. I keep meaning to do it, but I can't bring myself to trust people to send me what I've bought.
HAS YOUR ATTITUDE TO THE INTERNET CHANGED WITH TIME?
Well, I used to check my e-mail about once every three to six months and at that stage it wasn't the most efficient form of communication and most friends stopped bothering with it. They knew a phone call was the only way to get any response from me. Now, however, having a real live computer at home - my first since the Commodore 64 I had when I was 12 - I check it almost every day. Although it takes me an absolute age to type anything, I do try to get back to people. I am beginning to realise that there are a lot more positives than negatives.
HAVE YOU EVER MET SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET? WOULD YOU DO THAT?
No, I think you need to meet people face to face. The internet is a good medium for people to pretend to be something they're not. It's very easy to create a persona for yourself online.
IS THERE ANYTHING THAT ANNOYS YOU ABOUT THE INTERNET?
The only thing that bothers me about the internet is the fact that it's not instantaneous. It's so useful, and advanced, and modern, and indispensable, but you still have to wait for it to do things. I think I expected too much from it, hence the disappointment. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful thing and I know it's so much faster than it used to be, but time spent waiting for the computer to show me stuff is not time I want to spend.
HAVE YOU EVER GOOGLED YOURSELF?
Yes! Sometimes it looks better than other times, but I am the first link on the first page.
In conversation with Fiona McCann