It has been a great year writing for Odyssey. It has not only been a great way to share my words with the world but also it has got me thinking about my place in the internet world.
Think about it this way, the internet is just a little older than me (6 years to be exact) and that is just mind-blowing. Think about it, one little program spawned a whole vast, interconnected world in which we communicate, share and connect. Just like everything, the internet has positives and negatives. We can order items off of Amazon with a click of a button, connect with old friends and share our ideas across the world. The information of the world is at our fingertips. Never has that happened in the history of mankind! DANG. The internet can also have downsides: people stealing your information, spying on you, and since the internet is so vast, people can lose in it and forget what is going on around them. Since social media has been created, people have lost some ability to communicate with a person face to face.
I have struggled with this notion of people "getting lost" on the internet, especially with social media. I see people constantly posting all the time and it still completely baffles me that we are even able to do this thing. People sometimes forget what is going on around them because they are so focused on what is happening on the internet. The internet is its own world, essentially. It exists outside the physical realm. And the majority of us haven't quite figured how to navigate in it.
This brings me to the point of writing for Odyssey. I hate the idea of being a passing consumer of media. Like I stated, since the internet is its own world, we are constantly bombarded with messages of opinions about the outside world. I see people scrolling through media in classes, on the street and even when they are with someone at dinner. (Literally blows my mind talk to the person in front of you). But I cannot judge the way they live their lives, I must look out for myself.
Because I have joined Odyssey, I am no longer just a consumer of media, by writing my articles I am a producer.
I am able to be a producer of content and share it with the world around me. My opinions and tips are out there for people to read if they so chose. Something I made! AH! AMAZING! And at the end of the day, if I help someone with one of my articles or make someone smile or realize they are not so alone in the world, then I have accomplished my task. So even though I struggle today with the rate of which the media, internet, and technology have come into our lives, I know it is not going to go away. I must accept it. And because of Odyssey, I am able to add to the madness. I guess the old saying really has some merit, "If you can't beat em, join em."
Thank you, Odyssey! Super pumped to keep producing content! Hold on to your hats, folks, I got some spicy things coming up! Stay tuned!
