MY BABYSITTER, THE INTERNET

 "High school is the worst thing ever for pretty much everyone and I don't think 18 is a good age for most kids for college. From what I've seen, most people handle it better later on. Seems like there's been a shift though, like kids are maybe more sheltered now. There's just a completely different sort of socialization going on. People communicate via MySpace, or texting on cell phones more than anything. I don't think they can communicate as well in person. There's a lot more anonymous support out there for things that aren't necessarily good, like 5,000 anorexia LiveJournal communities which support and encourage anorexia and every teenage girl knows how to use the internet. And that's just something common! God, the connection it's given ICP fans! All those "Mad Rad Hair" communities... way to make every kid look the same. So there's just a whole new layer of peer pressure thanks to the internet, peer pressure and general influence, isolation. I would say that dealing with people in person is much more visceral in that it's likely to deeply affect someone, or cause them to consider things in a more dynamic way, whereas internet peer pressure is more like subtle brainwashing, like advertising."

- Russ of Beez, a few years back

Okay, so this is a goofy topic but worth examining in the sphere of youth and culture. "Internet Addiction Disorder" has been an arguable condition since the mid '90s even though becoming "addicted" to the Internet isn't considered a true possibility by many psych circles. Regardless, you don't have to be a rocket scientist (or in this case a psychologist) to note how hugely obvious our online immersion has affected the way we interact with other humans. Pick up any "self improvement" magazine today (or, who am I kidding, women's magazine not solely based on fashion) and you'll see blurbs about "fear of missing out" (FOMO) and, yeah, YOLO's adverse effects. Even if you don't subscribe to the latest philosophical hashtag, if you use social media at all, there is a random chance you'll compare your social life with totally distorted images on Instagram or a wave of slight self-hatred will wash over you just by lurking a recent ex's new lover's Facebook page. Doctors are paying attention to humanity's detrimental hook on social media for a reason. It causes distraction and can easily make a person distraught and our filtered lives creates a false view of others' reality. Our use of social media isn't always spent wisely, keeping us from walks in the park or finishing important deadlines. In a recent study, this Dr. Larry Rosen dude presented some interesting findings about "Facebook overuse", especially for adolescents, including the "top three potential negative effects of Facebook:

• Teenagers who use Facebook more often show narcissistic tendencies while young adults who have a strong Facebook presence show more signs of other psychological disorders, including antisocial behaviors, mania, and aggressive tendencies. 
• Daily overuse of media and technology has a negative effect on the health of all children, preteens, and teenagers by making them more prone to anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders, as well as by making them more susceptible to future health problems. 
• Facebook can be distracting and can negatively impact learning. Studies found that middle school, high school, and college students who checked Facebook at least once during a 15-minute study period achieved lower grades."

Unsurprising, of course. The less active and interactive humans are, the more their health and mental well-being suffers. Still the internet connects us in ways that our real lives sometimes fail to. There's huge appeal to wider online communities for those who have specific interests. ASMR, latex mask modeling, Rapture survival, furries or the hours spent on World of Warcraft are some examples.

Music lovers, gamers, literature mongers, film fanatics, foodies, fashion freaks and art makers obviously have the advantage of sharing their work and opinions online. They also have the disadvantage of locking themselves into their online communities, some individuals so pretentious and immersed to use their isolation in online communities to not interact with the "common" proletariat. And thus the Internet world provides connections to those with similar interests and keeps them there, a safety blanket, and you wanna be like HEY, get some fresh air, man. You're living in a fantasy world. Unless you can get a job online (more and more possible as the days go on), you still have to interact with reality. Some people are so into their internet lives, convos over the internet, that they don't know how to function very well in person.  #FIRSTWORLDPROBLEMS, yo.


The Y generation grew up with computers but they are a product of what Generation X began. Gen X babies weren't put in front of a computer as babysitter entertainment; the tradition of Saturday morning cartoons still reigned supreme. Later on in their childhoods they came across Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? on Apple computers in elementary school computer lab (Apple, back in the day, was not the "cool" lifestyle laptops of today - they got a major image overhaul in the late '90s and 2000s that reinvented them into popularity). So as the internet grew, a large percentage of Generation X grew along with it. Any candidate for social awkwardness discovered their new best friend, the computer. One great example is my Gen X net-addicted friend whose second concert was Smashing Pumpkins (after the first, MC Hammer, pretty much summing up the musical cultural climate in the early '90s). Born in 1979, he didn't have the Internet until high school, accessing the World Wide Web via BBS's and dial-up modems. Today, he uses the Internet on average about 8 to 10 hours a day, 6 or 7 of those for work, the rest to "read blogs, look for inspiration, check up on social networking, stock image searching, testing out websites for work". His internet personality is endearing and adorable, but some insecure individuals in real life consider him to be slightly snobbish. Knowing him personally I am aware that people are misunderstanding his shyness for egotism. It takes one to know one.


My friend definitely considers himself to have social anxiety. Does the internet help him express himself and communicate while avoiding social interaction and thus social anxiety? The answer is a simple "absolutely". He also noted the advantages the internet has provided in his work as well as being able to "communicate" at his own pace ("I prefer to mull over something before I send it"). It seems everyone loves the time advantage as witticism and humor is practically a contest on Facebook statuses. Our personalities may be judged by our ability to make jokes online. Some of the funniest people online are the quietest ones in real life. The internet is a haven for those unable to fully express themselves in reality.