The cost of social media and internet culture has come with a few generational disparities. Technology has definiltly improved alot over that past few decades, and while some may argue that this is the root cause of lack of public interaction, or false outlooks on reality, and other wild theories, I whole-heartedly beg to differ. I definitley believe digital coomunication greatly reflects how people interact and how information is accepted in the 21st century. Tech company giants such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft has led to widely successful social networks from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube. All of these sites has helped (in one way or or another) connect the world, aiding in career interests and advertisng for future jobs, acess to publications and articles for expanding education, and even viral videos and memes for freinds and family to enjoy. I never realized how something so common, something that people use everyday could really be so life changing (or maybe I’m just over-exagerating). But that’s what the Internet was created to be, always changing and improving much like ourselves.
2007 was where it all started. Everytime our class went to the computer lab (which was a big, high ceiling classroom with windows around the perimeter and huge IBM computers along the walls that almost took up the entire desk space) I always used it to play online pixelated games with my classmates. Fortunately for me, that was the same school year that every classroom got new influx of Dell desktop computers. It was really exciting for me to see computer screens go from huge screens as big as engines to much smaller, flatter screens the size of an English textbook. In fact, the late 2000s really started to open my eyes to with how innovative technology was starting to become: touch-screen promethian boards took over whiteboards in school, getting my first mp3 player for my 10th birthday, and obsessing over my dad’s Blackberry phone (which, to this day, still believe it was a cool phone).
The only thing that really made middle school as great as it was were the memes. Challenges, parodies, viral songs, almost everyday something new came out on Youtube which meant between lunch time, lounging by the lockers at class, or assmbly meetings in the gym, everyone took that oppurtunity to completely go crazy (and get it recorded). Peak 2010s, in my opinion, was a great time for music and created alot of one-hit wonders from “What Does the Fox Say” and “Gagnam Style”, a revival of boybands (with me being an unapologetic One Direction stan) and even funnier short clips from Vine and remixes of popular videos.
From highschool and now as I finish my semester as a college freshman, I’ve really come to appreciate how online communication has been the center of alot of my happiest moments. Despite alot of tradgedies happining everyday, somehow it’s always through the internet where people can really come together, start movements, raise awareness and really make change happen in our communities and our country. It’s always nice to see a funny tweet or commentary every now and again if I’m stressing over schoolwork or just being anxious about my future. I am grateful for the internet and I’m excited to see where it will go from here.