When I was in third grade my mom turned our downstairs closet into an office. The closet was the size of a pantry so it had space to comfortably move around in. Our first computer was a gateway desktop; it had a huge gray screen with a tilted white box aside white lettering Gateway at the bottom. The room was towards the back of the house and I had to ask permission whenever I wanted to go in. Our dial-up internet connection took at least ten minutes, but once on it ran quickly. My mom and dad would allow me access to the computer long as it was avaliable before 7pm. When the room had finally been settled I had permission to use the computer to play Geopets. Some days I would sit in that room up until 6:55! Geopets was a virtual pet community that required you to play games for you to live. I had heard about the game from my classmates, and wanted to join the fun. That’s when a computer became a habit instead of leisure. I stayed on game sites until my sophomore year in High School when MySpace become popular. I used my computer the most when I had a MySpace account. Not only did I spend hours looking at profiles, but I also had my own that required perfection. The backgrounds were made by codes, found on different sites that had various selections to choose from.
It would take hours to look for a code that had a design that I liked. I had to copy, paste, and find codes for perks like words falling from the screen when my profile is first displayed. Before and after school I would constantly be on the site. The internet started to replace telephones. I stopped receiving calls on my home phone, and started receiving MySpace notifications or AIM messages. Conversations, feelings, thoughts, were all made via internet. The need for the internet increased after high school. Once entering college I found that almost all source of information that I needed could be found on the internet. Assignments, books, local directions, are just a select few of the materials that I can be accessed via web. I have more access now than I did when I was surfing in my family’s office. Wi-Fi makes it easy for anyone to get an connection.
From my iPhone I use the internet to access apps making the smallest things quickly accessible. Lately I’ve been trying to limit my internet use. This is a computer age, and I want more human interaction. I cut myself to one social network and set maximum time be spent on the site. I don’t see the internet as a guide, more as an aid. The social aspect of the internet is not honorable and I wouldn’t take part. Using the internet for more of an information source and less for entertainment purpose, will improve me well.
