A 10-year-old boy sits at his computer playing Maple Story, an online game. A 15-year-old girl confesses her love for her neighbor over facebook. A 35-year-old man plays Webkinz. A 50-year-old watches YouTube videos that she was sent in an email. A 16-year-old-boy talks to the girl he likes in an Instant Message.
A13-year old girl talks to the 10-year-old and they become friends even though they have never talked in person. The neighbor receives the message and replies (hmm I wonder what happens?) A 5-year-old sits on her Dad’s lap as they play Webkinz. The 35-year-old-man continues to play Webkinz (he is playing because he likes it. If you are thinking something else than you have issues). An eighteen-year-old looks at his YouTube page and is overjoyed to learn he has gotten forty-two hits. A 17-year-old-girl talks on IM to the 16-year-old boy, oblivious of his crush.
This is the Internet. This is a computer. This is technology. This is SPARTA!!! (Just kidding on that last one). The Internet is an interesting thing. It is a collection of millions of people. Most have never even heard of each other and yet we are all connected. We watch a YouTube video. We play online games. We go on Facebook. By “we” I mean the countless number of people who go online each day. Yes, maybe they don’t do all of those things, but most likely they do one. Even if they don’t, there are loads of other things to do on the Internet. We read, watch, look at, laugh at, cry about, share, get mad at, criticize, agree with, learn about, etc, about all things.
It is both comforting and disturbing. It is nice to think that even though there are countless people in this world you are connected to them somehow (even if it is just because you are both looking at some “fat” “Dutch” kid singing “the Numma Numma song”). It is strange/bothersome to think of what you are connected to by being on the Internet, the strangers, the rapists, the psychos, or even if it’s just something other than the little circle of your life; either way you are connected.
The Internet is an important tool. It is like the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy come to life. It is also like a “person-connector” (that is the best way that I could put it). The vastness is unthinkable. It is like trying to count the stars in the sky. I am sure they have figures out there, but they are really meaningless. Here, let me help you out, save you the trouble of looking it up. There are A LOT of people on the Internet. It is a bottomless pit of information, false information, porn, random crap, and other things.
On the Internet we all communicate. We talk to people on forums and we debate. We try to convince people of things, and yet we have never even met them before. It is strange. We may never talk to a coworker, or a classmate, or a neighbor, and yet we could talk to them on the Internet, perhaps every day. There is no true way of knowing if we don’t identify ourselves (I would not really recommend actually doing this *See last paragraph of blog entry). How do you know with whom you are speaking? There are no major rules that would affect the average person. There’s nothing saying you can’t lie-at least I don’t think there is. 2+2=22 (2+2=4).
What is even more interesting is that people interact online, beyond just talking. There is online dating and the like. There are also games like Maple Story where loads of people play together in one game. They talk, trade, give, and take. It is far from real life. Despite the cheating and stealing that occasionally goes on in this game, there are a few good things too. People can join parties were they work together. People give help to those on a lesser level than them. They don’t know these people at all. They probably have never met them, but they help each other, make friends, and even enemies. It is as if it is an imitation of real life.
Then there is the YouTube viral video phenomenon. It is people putting videos up of themselves for everyone to see. It must be their attempt at 15 minutes of fame and sometimes it actually works. They dance or do some amazing feat and the population of the Internet flocks to the video. You are then connected with the other people who watched the same video as you did. You can even leave comments on their video. The Internet is big. Who really is Technoblogger6627? (I made him up.) We never really know who these people are and yet we watch THEIR videos and maybe even enjoyed them.
There are times I wonder if the Internet does more good than bad. Who’s to say? It is a thing, one of the many things that exist today. It is just there. There is no one forcing you on the Internet. But you will go- people ALWAYS go.
** Important information from subscript AB (pretend you know what I’m talking about and I will too)**
My name is Bloge Tekeno Lodgy. I live on 666 Intret Dr. I live in a small blue house (the one on the left). My social security number is 123-456-789. I am a short 110-year-old man. I have brown hair that is extremely straight. I currently have $456 dollars in my home and it is stashed underneath the floorboard, underneath my bed. I am away from my house from 2:30 pm until 5:00 Pm. If my living room (left most window) light is on I am home. I am weak and feeble and probably won’t be able to defend myself.
(**Disclaimer** Hate to break it to you, but I made ALL of that up. So, you can hang up the phone, stop talking to your buddies; get rid of your “plans.” If, for some strange reason, I used YOUR information then you are a freak and a very interesting person. If you did have plans, then get a life.)
