As a young kid, I have to say I do not remember much about the internet. I owned a lot of coloring books and barbies that took up the most of my time, but some of my earliest memories include computer games and interactive videos.
We were a big Disney family, so all of the computer games I had growing up consisted of Mickey, Minnie, or the Princesses. These games helped you learn in addition t0 have fun. My parents would help me insert the disk into the giant computer, we would have to wait for it to load, and that was about it.
My dad worked on a computer sometimes for his job, but that mainly consisted of his email which was of no interest to me. I received my first email when I was in 6th grade because my “boyfriend” and I wanted to talk outside of school. We would send each other messages in fun texts and colors and even sometimes add pictures. Other than that and AIM, I didn’t use the internet very much. My mom wouldn’t let me have a MySpace… but I wont get into that.
Throughout early years of middle school and into high school, teachers began implementing technology into lessons and homework. Somewhere in those same years I got a Facebook because that is what the cool kids were doing. I don’t think I really started using the internet every single day until I received an iPod and then eventually a smart phone.
Now a days, I don’t think more than 30 minuted goes where I am not using the internet in some form. I check my email every time I unlock my screen and 90% of the time I also check my social media accounts every time I check my phone. My job, my school work, and my relationships are now all on the internet. My most recent internet expense, paying someone to improve my internet appearance. Through a company called The Dean’s List, I am able to hire a team of “professionals” (whatever that means) to create an online website, blog, and positive internet appearance when someone googles my name.
This is no small expense, but it is what I have been informed to do in order to become relevant in my industry. No, this is probably not necessary for all areas of work, or really necessary at all for that matter, but I paid to do it and so have hundreds of other clients. That just goes to show how far the internet has come and how much our lives revolve around it.
**I have attached a few of the first emails I ever sent… no judgement please!! This was my original version of Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram all rolled into one!
That is awesome that you still have those emails. I have all of my old AOL instant messenger logs from high school. It’s really interesting that you can go back in your own digital history (complete with all the cringe).