My history with the internet

The internet has gone from a luxury only a few privileged people could access to a basic commodity found in the homes of most of the American population. Nowadays, most Americans not only have access to the internet on their home desktop, but also their personal laptops, their work spaces, and even their mobile phones or iPod touches. With the thought of available access to the internet at every turn we make, it is hard to imagine my life before the internet.

My first experience with the internet was in 1997 when I was in fifth grade. I was spending the night at my friend's house and she was talking about chatting with other people on the internet. I had no idea what she was talking about because the only experience I had with computers was playing Oregon Trail on my grandma's ancient Apple computer that only showed pictures in black and some neon-green color. Nevertheless, my friend introduced me to the 'net,' and I became instantly addicted. We could log on to our own interactive fantasy land and become someone you totally were not. We pretended to be a 20-some year old woman and talked to some guy who claimed to be at least 25. We were pretending to be someone we were not and talk to someone millions, thousands, or maybe even hundreds of miles away in the comfort of my friend's home. Little did I know that this new form of technology would change my life forever.

After a couple months of sneaking away to my friend's house to log onto some fantasy land, my grandmother (who lives right up the road from my house), purchased not only a brand new 1998 Gateway computer, but a dial-up internet connection as well. I could now walk up the road and log onto my fantasy land more often than if I went to my friend's house. I used my grandma's AOL screen name to get on AOL and talk to my other two friends who were also on AOL. This was not as fun because my grandma would watch the entire time (less gossip time for me and my friends), and my friends were not always on the same time I was.

After about a year, my parents gave in to my persistent begging and bought a brand new 2000 Gateway computer, and dial-up service. I immediately created an AOL account for myself and could now sign onto my fantasy world whenever I pleased. I was in heaven. With my new account, I could e-mail my friends, instant message with them, and even join a couple chat rooms. I have no idea why I liked chat rooms so much as a young teenager - maybe it was because I could be anyone else but myself. Every night before bed, I would log onto my account with my junior high account - I think it was KtNiKe2 or something like that (why did our screen names have to be so ridiculous?). I would mainly use this account to talk to my friends from school and meet their friends. We would talk about the latest gossip, or just talk because we had nothing better to do.

Looking back at my history with the internet, it is interesting to see how it has evolved in going from a luxury to a basic commodity over time. For example, the extent of my research for classroom/homework purposes has gone from finding resources in the library to 'Googling' most of my resources. The internet connects me to millions of resources - anything from Wikipedia to research information to sources about how to write a paper. With the modern day internet, the whole world is basically located at my fingertips.

The technology that I use today greatly differs from the way I first used it in Junior High. During Junior High and High School, I solely used the internet to instant message my friends. Since I graduated High School, the internet meets different needs for me now. As soon as I started classes at Luther College, I was immediately introduced to High-Speed internet and the new social networking site - "Facebook" (it's weird thinking of my life before Facebook now). I have been using Facebook for 3 1/2 years to keep in touch with friends, find out information about friends I no longer talk to, and keep updated with what events are going on at Luther and at home. Since I have come to Luther, I have also become more dependent on my e-mail account as a means of communications. I use my e-mail to keep up with family, professors, potential employers. I am also on a couple of listservs that keep me informed with what is going on at the Luther College campus.

For me, the internet has changed a lot from the time I was first introduced to the present day. I can instantly access the internet on my laptop, my classroom, my iPod touch, and even my mobile phone. The internet is literally everywhere. The internet has affected the lives of millions of people around the world. It will be interesting to see how it will change in the future.