What is the Internet?

A loaded question to say the least. When first prompted, I was trying to answer all of these concrete questions that seemed to have boundaries and limits and definitive conclusions, but as I play my favorite album off of Apple Music, paused Legend of Korra on Netflix to write this, and am able to connect with anyone in the world on this website with these words I’m writing right now, those answers seem worthless.

The internet, in short, is a boundless universe most of us have only scratched the surface of. Much like an ecosystem can begin with one microorganism, the internet has sprouted from fax machines and floppy disks into this endless place we can access through almost any screen. The crazy thing is that yes, the internet is tied to being accessed through something, but it is still around us and embedded in our culture today universally. We can stream our favorite movies from mountaintops and discuss news articles, memes, and viral trends as casually as can be nowadays. Think about how crucial the internet is during this global pandemic and how it has almost become a part of us as humans now more than ever — it’s essential to survival in the given time.

Although the internet is a truly awesome space we can all share, access, and create in, it can be unsettling. I am about to turn 20 years old, so that means I was a part of the MySpace/Omegle/Bad Side of Tumblr group of 10–12 year olds. To be frank, my generation has been harmed by the internet in irreparable ways because of it. With access to such things at such young ages and experiencing media overload for most of our lives, we have become desensitized to too much, which brings a whole new realm of issues with things such as “dark humor” and stranger contact, but I’ll save that conversation for anyone who’s interested 1 on 1.

So, to answer some of your questions, yes I love the internet, yes I am afraid of it, and yes I think it is the greatest creation in modern history aside from extra long phone chargers.