First Blog Response- Devon Golde

In the last fifteen years, and especially the last ten, since the dawn of the new millenium, there has been a drastic surge in society's use of internet communications and technology. Prior to this point, the internet, while in constant use by people everyday, had not yet become the staple of every day life that it is today. When I began grade school, one could still use the excuse of not having a computer at home and it was at that point still believable and understandable. For a computer was somewhat like a game system today, it was cool to have one, but it was unnecessary. But in the intervening years, that's all changed. People no longer have a choice of whether or not to buy a computer, it is now somewhat a necessity of life. The effects of which can be felt in almost any part of life, but perhaps most notably, the way we interact.
During my years growing up, I literally witnessed the change of the entire social landscape. It seemed almost over night that people decided to only communicate through computer screens. In school and other social outlets, we went from being outgoing and communicative with one another, to simply dealing with having to leave the shelter of home. In a strange paradox, this crazy internet thing opened up countless possibilities for communication, yet it closed people off from one another. By staying constantly "connected" we somehow lost the ability to actually connect. No longer was it necessary to make friends in new places because you could be in constant contact with your old friends. Some adapted and some didn't. Some kids were lost in the shuffle in this new age of digital social interaction, longing for the old ways of actually speaking in person.
It's strange to think that my generation will be literally the last to remember what it was like without this strange "magical" interconnectivity called the internet, or at least the version of it we know today. Kids now are born with this ever-growing hub of information and communication, that nowadays you can take with you anywhere. The internet, as we know it, is still in it's infancy. It will continue to grow and evolve over time and with it, so will our communications. But for anyone that has been alive long enough to remember when people had pagers, or it was relatively easy to find a pay phone, it is readily apparent the effects that wide-spread use of the internet has on our lives and culture. The only question is now: where will it go from here?