132

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

53 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago

No one really explained it to me, to be honest. A few kids started using it when we were about 10-11, so I just joined in. Picked it up pretty quickly though.
I think my experience is quite different from many Lemmy users. English isn't my first language, and for a long time I couldn't really read/write in English. You might take it for granted, but the sheer quality/amount of English content out there compared to other languages is beyond comparison. There was still plenty of information available in my language, but it was pretty limited. Not everything was up-to-date, if it existed at all. It wasn't until I finally felt confident with English that I really experienced that "wow, everything is at my fingertips" moment, with all the communities and websites out there.
They soon realized I wasn't just messing around online, but was basically that nerdy kid who went to the library(the internet) every day. They were pretty cool about it, thankfully.

[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago

A few kids started using it when we were about 10-11, so I just joined in.

Sounds so illicit.

this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2024

132 points (96.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26669 readers

1872 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics.

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.