I was a twelve year old (or so) when my family first got connected via dial-up. I was fascinated by the internet...information was infinite and there were people online who shared my interest in things like Sailor Moon and Pokemon and whatever else it was that I liked back then. Nowadays, Barnes & Noble has a huge section dedicated to manga, but back then I'd have to save up all my money to spend on $30 anime vhs tapes at the store or order fansubs via snail mail. So, the internet was like a revolution to me.
When I was a freshman in high school I had a cell phone, but nobody ever called me as I didn't really have any friends. It only ever beeped when it was out of signal (service wasn't very good then, either). In fact, I was surprised the one time I can remember it ringing (it was Jennifer from English class and she wanted to know what the homework was). So yeah, anyway, I was a bit of a loner at school, but I did have a few friends online...like this random guy from Ohio or something I knew; we'd exchange long emails about Sailor Moon and life and all sorts of things.
Back then, the only people who really congregated on the internet were those who were weird or lonely enough to do so. Man, have things changed. With the rise of social media I guess the hoi polloi have discovered that the internet isn't just for weirdos and pedophiles. It's also a place for my random teenage relatives to update their facebook about third period biology and etc etc etc...the banality of real life has invaded my internet sphere as I am forced to e-socialize with random, boring relatives, classmates, coworkers from past and present lest I seem callous. Back when I joined blogger in the year 2000, bloggers were nerds, outcasts, and other marginalized people. Those people are still on the internet, but so are the Boring McBoringsons writing blog posts about their two year old kid or posting poorly written tirades against cigarette smokers....etc etc etc.
I guess the margin has gotten bigger. Well, whatever, so long as interesting things like this (nsfw, btw) are still on the internet, I guess I can deal. Who's to say that I'm not a part of the uninteresting masses, anyway.
haha that website caught me off guard. There should be a caution before clicking on links.
ReplyDeleteI remember when the internet was interesting. I too had a blog back in 2000. It was great because there weren't many blogging sites, so your blog didn't get lost in the masses.
I used to go into chat rooms with my friends before chat rooms become full of weird people and I had friends all over the place thanks to ICQ and the ability to search for anyone you wanted.
Talking to strangers on the internet used to be fun.
I do like that the internet is more resourceful though.
dude I loved the internets when it was kept to the privileged few who were willing to sacrifice some time in the outside world. I was one of those "loners at school" as well back in the day, and I was surprised to find others online who had a similar interest in a a particular J-drama I was into for some strange reason (it's called Bluebird...and I'm not entirely sure there's still too many others who are into it).
ReplyDeleteanyways I am a bit offput by the way that it's now finally cool to be "nerdy" and how mainstream the concept of a "geek" has become. see, back in the day, I used to think I was special and unique for having the interests and mannerisms I did, but thanks to the interweb, I find that I've become just another face, just another internet user who is alot more alike others than I originally thought I was.
this internet thing...it's a blessing and a curse.
I've been blogging since 2000 too but my friends thought it was so weird but then...2004 everyone in my high school class got a XANGA! I didn't like it very much but I caved in because I was curious what my classmates would be writing about. But then later I felt like people were starting to get nosey with life...ugh...
ReplyDeleteI kind of miss back when it was the weird loner kid thing to do. What are the loner kids of today to do to differentiate themselves? Become Luddites and embrace the typewriter!
ReplyDeleteYour post opened my eyes! I never really thought about that. We were on the frontier of the blogging world with our personal websites. :)
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