To think about a time when the internet did not exist is actually rather hard for me. I grew up with technology (literally I think the cell phone went through puberty with me). However; there are some days I wonder what things would be like if the internet did not exist. Would I be friends with some of the people I am now if it were not for the internet bringing us together? Would I have felt the need to do the things I did if it were not for all of my “friends” on social media. These are things I often wonder, and I would like to think other people do too. I feel that if the internet was not around today, I and many other people would be different people. Would we get dressed up in the morning if we did not have somewhere to post it? Of course we are not dressing up for the people at our job, but probably more so our posse or our followers on social media. Would I have gone to college, if I did not feel that that people on social media would judge me if I did not? I guess what it comes down to is, are we doing the things we do for ourselves? Or are we doing it for the people we feel the need to impress on the internet?
So many of us are afraid of rejection, mostly by people we do not even know. In 1995, it was so much easier to fall off the grid. Get away from your home town, and not have to worry about anyone knowing your business. Today everyone knows almost every last detail of your life. Where you work, what you are driving, your birthday, where you are going to school, all the way down to how much you weigh. Of course these are things that we feel the need to share with others, but we do it because we want to share our accomplishments with other people. Before the internet you could really only share information with people that were close to you. You would have to call them up or meet them in person to tell them how things were going. You only were able to stay in contact with people who wanted you to do so. Whereas today, we will add anyone on our social media account, and pretty much share anything with them.
I would like to go back to a time when the internet did not exist, preferably as a 20 something. Yes job hunting would definitely be a challenge, and having to send resumes and applications by mail would probably be super strenuous. But I think there would be some important benefits. I would like people to actually remember my birthday without a reminder, and call me. Actually I would like to get a phone call in general, because the 500 texts I send a day are usually pretty meaningless anyway. I would like to be able to live under a rock (not literally), but I would like to be able to live my life without the entire world knowing what I am doing. I would like to have a conversation that doesn’t start with, “I saw on your Facebook you got a new job.” Because I would like to actually see someone and have them update me on the past six months of their life (okay so maybe not everyone). But still I would like to have to ask someone how they are doing, or what they are up to. Today conversations are so rare, because we know everything about each other. Every time someone gets a new job, or moves, or has a baby, we see it on our social media accounts or we hear it from other people who saw it. I think the internet has taken away our ability to have conversations with each other, because there is no need.
I am not saying that the internet is not an amazing part of our generation. Because honestly it is. I do not think after having it for nearly my entire life, I could live without it. Which I know sounds awful. But I could live without social media (although I still have it). There are days I wonder what things would be like. How would I tell people all the accomplishments I have made? How would people know what I am doing with my life? The answer is, I would probably have to call them. Or simply not tell them at all.
