“Write about some of the latest technology you love – or even
technology that’s been around for a while, but you still think is awesome.”
These days, a vast majority of people in the UK are
connected to the internet. One way or another, it has become as much a part of
daily life as a cup of tea and a biscuit. My mother has a smartphone, my
Grandad uses Facebook, and even my Great Grandma is aware of its existence, despite never having owned a
computer. The internet is everywhere, connecting people and spreading ideas
like wildfire.
There are many reasons that I love the internet, some more
obvious than others. I’ve always been a book-lover, but to have so much data
and knowledge literally at my fingertips is exhilarating. Through the web, we have access to thousands
of recipes, song lyrics and other pieces of information; a pool of resources
which vastly outmatches the largest libraries in the world. I can use the
internet to stream movies and TV shows without having to surrender any of our limited space to DVD box sets; I can find reviews of anything and everything;
I can listen to music without having to purchase a whole album because I like a
single song... In fact, this is something that I love so much about the
internet that I purchased an internet radio to listen to in the kitchen.
As I stated previously, the internet has become an integral
part of our daily lives, so much so that few people truly even appreciate it
anymore. It is simply there, whenever we have need of it. It is taken for
granted – that is, of course, until it goes down for a few hours!
For some people, though, the internet is not simply part of our daily lives. For some
people, most of our lives are on the web. One would assume I am exaggerating at
this point, so let me explain: I am a person with multiple disabilities; I
suffer with various mental health problems alongside a debilitating physical
illness. My partner works long hours Monday to Friday and I have no family or
friends close-by. The result of this is that, aside from the cat and the
occasional support worker, most of my social interaction is orchestrated through the
intertubes.
Thanks to the World Wide Web, I can keep in touch with my
friends and family, despite living miles away and not always having the ability
to phone them. I love the internet
because it allows me to talk with so many people from all over the world (time
zones permitting!), and in so many different ways. The web has opened up countless
new ways to communicate – blogging, email, instant messaging, not just for text and conversation but ways to share photos and videos. I can even video
call with my best friend who is currently studying in Spain!
More than that, though, the internet allows me to network
with people who share my interests in a way that would just not be possible
otherwise – without the internet, I would be restricted to talking to people
that I meet in person, in day-to-day life. As you might imagine, I don’t meet
very many people – I am, in fact, often housebound. This is really why the
internet is so important to me – it is my main way of networking, socialising
and meeting new people. I met my boyfriend of three years (and counting!)
through Twitter, a good friend on the mtv2 forums (way back in the day!) and
one of my best friends is someone that I met on (don’t laugh) a Harry Potter RP
site around nine years ago – I’m actually meeting up with her in person for the
first time this month! These are friendships which have lasted longer and
endured through my illness and isolation, which is more than I can say for most
of the people I met in person from school and the like.
I am immensely grateful to have been born into a generation
which grew up with access to all kinds of computers and technology. I am
constantly in awe of the fact that I can connect with people all over the
world, in real-time, and communicate with them from the comfort of my computer
chair. I can even access the internet on my phone whilst I’m in bed! People like
to claim that the internet is making people antisocial, but I don’t see why you
have to be physically with someone to
socialise. As long as I have access to the internet, I’m never alone, and that
means the world to me.
That is why I
think the internet is awesome.
