We’ve all had entirely too much internet recently. I don’t need to go over the reasons, but it’s not too far of a stretch to say that we’re all tired of sluggish Zoom classes and endless emails. However, even with all the online work we’ve all been doing, there’s a part of the internet that I still take solace in, and that’s the part of the internet that allows me to talk to my friends.
Being college students, there is a good chance that most of us have at least one friend who is a bit further away than we would like, and when travel is restricted, sometimes the only form of connection we can get is through a screen. I have friends in different countries, states, and campuses, and although I would much prefer to see them in person, I’ve found that the internet is actually a blessing when it comes to keeping in touch with them, or indeed, making new friends. I met two of my dearest friends on the internet while talking about shared interests, and I am forever grateful to technology for letting me connect to people in different areas who I may never have met otherwise. I spend hours of my day in front of my laptop, staring at my little Zoom square or taking online quizzes, and all of that on it’s own is an exhausting experience. However, as soon as my friends are involved, the internet gains a new energy for me. I don’t feel drained when I watch my two friends complain about their tech classes back and forth in our group chat, I gain a new burst of energy when I see a little chat bubble from my friend in New Jersey when she texts me to talk about her band practices and the games she’s been playing, and I always look forward to my now-weekly movie nights with my friend from Canada. And although these can seem like really trivial things, I feel like the past year would have been much darker without them.
This past year was a year of isolation and technology as a necessity, and it was really easy to fall into a mental spiral of loneliness and burnout. But for me, my friends were a light in the dark, a light that I could only access through technology. Without the internet, without my phone and my laptop, I would have spent the quarantine utterly alone; every day would have been the same: dull, mundane, and draining. However, I filled my time with the voices and videos of my friends. Therefore, I think that it’s only fair to consider that part of the experience of the last year; it was a big year for technology as a work and education tool, but it also had it’s shining moment as a tool of connection.