How the internet raise me (II)

Photo by Austin Poon (Unsplash)

We all are changing for the internet whether actively or passively. The internet has considerably impacted how we view the world we live in and define the people we are today. It is interesting to take a step back and look at how much the internet has changed us because it has… a lot.

In last week´s article, I started laying out to which extent the internet has changed each early stage of my life starting from babyhood (still can´t believe that is a word) to my preadolescents. Moreover, I also laid out the effect the internet may have had on the way I was brought up (in other words my parent´s parenting methods).

A quick recap:

• Babyhood: Not much
• Childhood: Not much
• Primary school: Computer science became a subject and the use of technology became more frequent
• Preadolescents: First electronic devices with no social media presence but still addicted to it

Now that we are all caught up, I must disclose that the summary was too brief, to sum up, the two thousand-word article from last week but here is the link in case anyone wants to go back and read that not-so-long diary entry.

In this article, I want to understand how much the internet has changed me in my adolescence and the reason behind that change. This is a separate article, not because I adore two-part articles (honestly I hate them. The second part is somehow always worse because I am stretching the article), rather because there is so much more to unpack than my first fourteen years of my life.

Adolescent (15-18)

My adolescents are my most recent memories, yet I can´t really say anything about, which extent the internet has changed me. The internet and its effects just seem to be part of me and it is hard to distinguish the blurry line between the internet´s effects and where the real me begins but I can try.

School

The first thing I should mention is that when I was fifteen I moved to Germany, which also meant that I transferred to a new school in Germany. Amongst the biggest differences, I experienced was the fact that the school is a ‘digital-learning’ school where laptops are considered not the replacements for pen and paper but rather they are equal.

What I noticed during my four years at that school was that I was more glued to my screen instead of the teacher´s lesson. During lessons where laptops are necessary, I would sometimes do other things instead of focus on the lesson.

Enough about me not paying attention in some classes. Let´s talk about the laptops instead. Of course, now that everything is digital, I believe that my eyesight has gotten worse since I am staring at the computer screen all day every day but I don’t want to talk about biological changes.

Studying

I want to understand the psychological and habitual changes of my use of technology and the internet instead. As mentioned, it is hard to pin down what the technological innovations specifically changed or what I personally changed according to my environment but there are a few obvious examples.

With the laptop at hand twenty-four-seven, I had a feeling that I am constantly using it whether for research or just music. Always surfing or typing. Never shut it down and reading a book instead. Do not get me wrong, I adore how easily one can organize things on the laptop in comparison to real life.

The laptop, not only provide editing and storage of notes but also can access the internet, which makes research so much easier. One can research everything one desires from the comfort of their own home but I have figured out a few disadvantages.

When researching I have the tendency to get distracted by the seemingly more interesting other things on the internet rather than the things I am supposed to do. I am fully aware that this has something to do with self-restraint and self-discipline but… (I can´t talk myself out of this one.)

There are always small tricks that help with distraction. However, all the small tricks would not be necessary if not for the fact that the internet can be so distracting. (I know I am shifting the blame but old habits die hard.) My point is that technology makes studying easier and harder at the same time.

Spending so much time digitally learning, I also believe my attitude towards the internet and technology has also changed. On the one hand, I am grateful for all its perks, which makes my life easier but on the other, I despise the consequences I have to face.

Library

Studying tricks one needs to implement is also a small price to pay for the information one has access to in comparison to the library. There are a few things about libraries that make them seem harder to use than the internet.

For instance, one does not have to get up and get the books. One will have to know the book one has to use in the first place. The books themselves can be bricks. Then one needs to carry that heavy borrowed book home and keep the return date in mind otherwise there will be a fine to pay.

However, one advantage the library has over the internet is the simple fact that the library is so much more credible than internet sources since as we all know everyone can spread their facts and opinions on the internet but not everyone can get a book published.

In no way am I saying that all the books in the library are published by credible authors. There may even be books that contain factual bullcrap in some libraries since the publishing houses have not discontinued them and the libraries did not throw them out.

Nevertheless, that does not mean that one should not trust anything in a written or spoken format but I am just saying that the credibility of books from a well-known professor is more credible than an article from an unknown and anonymous person online. (Not me though since no one in their right mind would quote me. Moreover, my thoughts are not factual research so I should be in the clear.)

The bright side to that tiny credibility problem is the fact that it teaches us to perceive information with a cautious eye. In digital schools, teachers taught us to double-check the sources listed and read the sources to make sure the article quote them correctly. So there are good and bad.

IT Dreams

As for my career idea in IT… That idea flew out the window the moment I met my tenth-grade computer science teacher. First, after having a female computer science teacher, a male computer science teacher just seems clique.

Another thing, I want to point out is how he made IT feel boring and hard. In a class of roughly seventeen students, there were only four girls. The guys all seemed to understand how everything works because they researched it in their free time but for those who didn’t… out of luck.

Don’t get me wrong, I did not dislike my former IT teacher as a person, just like how I don’t hate my former eleventh to twelfth-grade german teacher however when the class seems mundane the students are not likely to find the subject interesting. Therefore I believe that a subject is only as good as its teachers.

Smartphones

Another thing I want to add is that I am glued to my phone as well. Whether I use it for research or personal purposes. Now if I should lose my phone it will feel as if I am losing a part of myself since there are so many photos and information on it.

In the past, the phone was just another Gameboy or camera to me but now I would not know what to do without my phone, which is a scary thought. Going out I can forget money and keys but my phone is essential. This is somewhat messed up.

The reason I am glued to the phone is obvious when one knows the apps I have on that tiny thing. Games, utilities and most noteworthy social media platforms. If I don’t have internet, I tend to not use my phone very often but when the internet is on…

Social Media

After moving to Germany, I got a social media account. I am not sure if I did it out of peer pressure or the simple fact that I want to connect with the friends I made but I have social media and the motivation seems irrelevant now.

Social media makes connecting with old friends and ex-classmates easier. Considering how many people I know in the most different countries, I can only be thankful for the existence of a platform that connects me with them so easily.

At the very same time, there is so much content on the social media platforms, which makes it hard to just switch it off. Sometimes mindlessly scrolling through the thousands of posts seems like the better option in comparison to other things one have to face if one doesn’t.

The funny thing about social media is actually the fact that it does the opposite thing it was supposed to do. Content addiction aside, social media is supposed to bring us closer together by connecting us with the people we met in our lives.

Funnily, that is not what is happening. When we are scrolling through social media, we probably do not talk to the person next to us. On top of that, when we go out with friends, it is likely that we post about it, which in turn robs us of our time spent with friends.

Another thing about social media that I find comically funny is the friendship part of social media. On social media, I am just like in real life not so popular. I have roughly a hundred followers give or take but when I take a step back from the blinding lights of stardom, I realize I do not talk to them.

One thing about my followers, which is important to mention, is the fact that I only let people follow me who I have met in real life. Random strangers are trying to follow me but I don’t tend to boost my follower count by accepting them since I don’t know them.

This still is hundred people I do know on social media. However, I still do not talk to them regularly. Maybe we exchange formalities but that is pretty much it. Social media may connect us but do we truly use those connections?

This small discovery made me doubt the people I call my friends. My friends follow me on my social media but not all my followers are my friends. However, when we don’t stay in contact those people I consider to be my friends are just followers on social media and nothing more.

My friendship issues aside. Let´s talk about the content addiction, I quickly mentioned in the passages above. I have a tendency to mindlessly swipe through social media even though I am fully aware that I have other things to do. The question now is why don’t I stop?

Just like everything, there are methods to get over an addiction. For example cold turkey. Lose access to all the content from around the world and lose the connection on that platform. Would you miss out or live more in the moment? Let´s assume you have the choice between staying or quitting.

There is the option to just delete social media account but it does not come easy since there are so many questions one has to answer. In the time answering those questions, it could be possible that one rethinks the deletion decision and cancel the deletion process as a whole to keep social media.

What else is there?

Let´s say that someone did manage to delete their social media account. Instead of social media, they decide to learn about something. That person can either watch a how-to video or read information on a website. Books and in-person courses are also readily available options but options I am not going to leave out since they drift from the main topic.

Giving the videos and internet sources the benefit of the doubt by assuming the content is correct and the creator does not have a motive to mislead, both options are still faced with many problems, which we as day-to-day internet users may not consciously realize.

First, the choice. When we google something, Google spits out millions of pieces of information to further us in our search for information or entertainment. One will have to spend time to look through all the information provided and choose one.

In consumer media, we likely choose more than one but we still have to choose which one to read/watch first. Sometimes it even seems that we spend more time choosing instead of doing/watching the thing we intended to do/watch.

What if you decide to watch videos instead of reading a source? It does not take a fortuneteller to predict the platform you will find your video content on. The media platform that one will likely end up with is YouTube.

YouTube is in turn a social media platform. Social media platforms are designed to keep the user on that site for as long as possible. Therefore, their algorithms will fish for content to do just that. Then we are back at square one with the content addiction dilemma.

Bright Side of the internet

After listing all the negative effects, the internet got me thinking about, I cannot ignore the positive effects of it as well. The internet provides a sense of community. A place where people with similar personalities can come together to share their thoughts on their favourite subject.

Cyberbullying aside. The internet provided gen z with the medium to speak in a society, which has often silenced people who disagreed especially minority groups. The internet allowed us to speak up about the topics we truly care about and find people with similar ideologies.

Conclusion

Like everything, there is a good and a bad side to everything. Nothing is truly one-sided whether we like it or not. As for my initial question of to which extent the internet had its effect on me. The conclusion I came to is that I can´t say for sure.

It might be a frustrating conclusion after reading a combined four-thousand-word essay but that is simply the plain truth. The true way to find out to which extent the internet has raised me is to go back in time and cut off the internet completely.

Those kinds of things are just hard to measure since there are so many variables involved as well and as I tried to explain to myself in a previous article; it is not possible to go back in time. Maybe it is a 21st-century burden, maybe that is an eternal burden but we just have to live with it.

Video

Frankly, I did not get around to watching Bo Burnham´s Inside music comedy yet but from the songs and reviews, I believe that comedy sketch will touch upon a lot of things I have mentioned in this article. Moreover, I found a video essay, which explains Bo´s comedy sketch.