A Love Letter to the Internet
Dear Internet,
I am writing to share my appreciation for you. It is easy to go straight to your shortcomings. There is more fear than ever that the digitization of the world is shortening attention spans, increasing reliance on personal devices, and injecting anxiety into the minds of the youth. I’ll admit, I tend to veer towards the cynical side of the Internet’s repercussions.
That said, I often forget to acknowledge the wealth that the Internet has brought to my life. There are staple pieces of media that I know I can always come back to. The Genius video of Mitski breaking down her lyrics for “My Love Mine All Mine.” Haim’s 2021 Grammy’s performance of “The Steps.” The Podcrushed podcast episode with Ayo Edebiri. When I’m feeling down, I find comfort in these pieces of media.
There’s also the media that I personally get to be a part of in some way. I treasure the video my friends recorded of me seeing “The Wire” at my first Haim concert. The Faye Webster music video my friends and I made and sent to the band on Instagram (they ended up giving us free tickets!) The PowerPoint my siblings and I collaborated on to convince our parents to get a dog. The blog I made when I went abroad to the Netherlands where I documented my year there and shared little life moments with friends and family.
The Internet means different things to different people. For me, sometimes it’s scary, too loud, too much. But, it can also be such a magical place. Media can transport me to a specific time, place, feeling. Media is my meditation when I listen to music on my walks to class, my remedy for homesickness when I watch my comfort show One Tree Hill, and a place where I can word vomit my thoughts on the Notes app. The Internet has consoled me, kept me in touch with people I can’t see every day, and provides an outlet for my creativity.
Certainly, the Internet is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s an excuse to escape reality and neglect real life; but on the other hand, it’s a source of comfort and a momentary stress reliever. The Internet is so fast-paced and overwhelming… but it’s also so efficient and easy to use. The Internet stays with us forever… but also, the Internet will stay with us forever!
For a while, I struggled with navigating using the Internet in a way that helped not hurt me. When I was off the Internet, sometimes I would get intense FOMO and feel an urge to get back online. It took years for me to recognize that the Internet is an entertaining realm to visit at times, but it’s not my whole world. It feels very real and very important, but it’s not nearly as real or important as the life I have off my screen. Realizing this made my time on the Internet more enjoyable. To understand that I can appreciate you, Internet, but I also know that I don’t need you.
Drawing my boundaries with technology and recognizing its limitations allows my experiences online to be more fruitful. And while it’s not hard to get bogged down by the bad that comes with the Internet, there is plenty of good to appreciate about it. I mean, how cool is it that I get to live in the digital age where I can host shared jam sessions while studying with friends, FaceTime people that live an ocean away, and imagine an alternate life for myself through Pinterest boards!
Sincerely,
Amelia
