In a Relationship With--The Internet (Relationship Status: It's Complicated)

My relationship with the internet is about as rocky as the mountains that run from Canada to New Mexico. We've been in a serious relationship for quite some time now and after being together for so long, we are starting to hit some really intense rough patches. However, when I'm feeling down or just wanting to relax and hang out, the internet is always there for me. What can I say? I'm in love.

In class, we read an article about the internet by Steven Johnson that talked about people's relationship with the world wide web and what good things come from it and what bad thing come from it as well. For me, I'd have to say that I am about a 50/50 on a good day....well really any day and here's why. I'll go on the internet for school and homework which equals good, however I'll also go on the internet while doing homework and watch YouTube videos or go on Facebook which equals bad.

I have been messing around online before, just reading things on Facebook or catching up on the videos from my subscriptions from YouTube and I'll see a video that interests me so I'll click on it and watch it, then I'll do it again with another video and before I know it, it's three in the morning and I'm watching videos of naked men fighting snakes in the mud or creepy puppets murdering children. I have no idea how I got here, but I'm here and it's happening. Sometimes I'll just sit back and really evaluate my life and my time and question my decisions.

But, the internet may taketh away but the internet also giveth back. I am much more connected with my friends and people from all over the world thanks to the internet and specifically, Facebook. I'm on there daily checking my news feeds and seeing what my friends are up to. I also find internet articles or sites very helpful such as Dictionary.com, Wikipedia, Urban Dictionary, and several others. I like that I can go on to KCRG.com and read interesting news stories without waiting for the 6:00 or 10:00 news. I would say that to a certain extent, the internet has made me smarter or at least let me be smarter by giving me tools to further educate myself and I like that. I'm glad I'm of the generation that is so fully immersed in the internet, I just hope that it doesn't become a huge negative issue in the future.