A Brief History of the Internet:
Starting from quite literally nothing, the internet has become the pulse of our modern society. Although this video speaks upon the first of many internet advancements, I find the intersection of these accomplishments far more compelling. The growth of the internet works like a classic example of the domino effect . With one great idea, comes an influx of even more new ideas building off the of the original. For example, what is a website without the World Wide Web, and what is so special about a mobile phone without its compatibility with the internet? With this being said, it is clear that the internet has brought us so many benefits, but most importantly, it’s given people inspiration and motivation to contribute to its miraculous growth. Even the seemingly elusive internet contributions may be the spark to the new greatest thing. The internet not only encourages people to be content creators, but it also plays an important role at unification . To unify and come together is something this world has yet to master, but the early stages of the internet absolutely brought in a positive impact. People all over the world are able to interact with one another and share pieces of their identity with strangers. Internet celebrities are able to express important messages to the entire world and make a real, tangible impact . The internet gives everybody a voice. It gives people an equal chance to express how they feel, what they love, what they hate, who they are, and what they may be doing. Although this is all so new to us, the internet is running our entire world. Mass communication is finally possible, and people are starting to stand up for change in the safety of their homes. I cannot imagine what the next ten years will look like for our digital revolution , but if we educate and continue to inspire each other, the internet is capable of incredible things.
The Early Internet is Breaking:
Before watching this video, I had never looked at the early web in such a cultural context. Although I was not exploring the internet in these incredibly dynamic and creative days, I have had the personal privileged to study HTML code in my systems class for EDP. With a group of 5, we put our minds together to create a cohesive website about “scale” and what we thought was interesting about it. I put so much of my own taste into my pages and felt like I had created a personal project from scratch. The reason I bring this up is because I have also created a more modern website using Square Space , and the contrast is incredible. Although Square Space is clean and easy to use, I didn’t put in any effort to customize my page. There was an absence of pride when building this website compared to when I coded my own site about scale. Although my Square Space website may have looked neater, it wasn’t authentically showing off my own aesthetic and personality. This theme of lacking originality is also seen in social media . I see so many people on apps like Instagram and Facebook covering up who they really are to try and fit a mold society seems to expect of us. People are creating and dictating false narratives by only posting their best moments on social media. This becomes a toxic community very quickly which is why I love the motive to preserve digital history which highlights people’s true selves. The internet can be an amazing place to share and inspire one another so together we must keep it real, and more importantly, safe.
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