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For younger generations, what was it like growing up with the internet? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by lennybird@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I guess I'm curious about generations (namely GenZ and Alpha) who didn't live in a pre-Internet time. Like,

How was the concept first explained to you, or when did it click?
Do you understand how insane it is to have the aggregate of all human knowledge — the only comparable thing once being a physical library or university — one search away? That it's absolutely insane you can engage in a real-time conversation with someone on the opposite side of the world? That you can find niche communities in an instant?
Were your parents super strict about internet usage? How quickly did you find workarounds?

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[-] wirelesswire@lemmy.zip 11 points 2 months ago

I'm a millennial, so I guess I grew up with the internet, but wasn't something I really used myself until high school. I remember the "information superhighway" term pushed a lot in grade and middle school. My family only had dial-up until after I graduated high school, mainly because my parents were concerned I would spend too much time on the internet (they were 100% right lol). I wasn't allowed on the internet at home unless I had to do research for a school project. I ended up having a do a lot of "research" for a while.

In high school, I got my hands on a second-hand laptop, so I would take it to friends houses or wherever I could get a wifi connection and screw around on the web. I spent a lot of time on Newgrounds and AIM before Youtube was a thing. I learned how to find the .swf files in the browser cache so I could rewatch flash videos when I was offline. I also learned some things about my family while browsing the browser cache, but I'll be keeping those secrets.

I never used Napster, but did use Kazaa and similar to download music and such.

I didn't quite understand how insane it is to have access to that much knowledge until later. To me, the internet was a convenient place to do research, play games, watch funny videos, and chat with friends.

this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2024

132 points (96.5% liked)

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