I wandered onto youtube, and curiously explored some of the video blogs -- called vlogs, apparently -- primarily as a means of exploring youtube (largely because my exploration to date has consisted of typing up the name of an artist or song that I like, and then watching the video of what I was looking for). I'd occasionally wander onto some sports vids, but that's a relatively unimportant tangent which doesn't need further explanation.
After having watched a couple (what I consider) boring vlogs [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EC_AJOY4Ss&feature=popt16us0a”], I came across this one vlog [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O5d_YGHjBk&feature=related”] of a guy tackling the question, "What would my life be without the internet?" and encouraging other vloggers to chime in with their own vresponse (yay! I made up a word! if this ever makes it into the vernacular, and history proves that I'm the first to come up with this word, I want credit. and monetary compensation.). Now, I currently don't have a camera or a computer with enough capabilities to post vlogs on my buh-log, so a vresponse is out of the question. I'll have to settle for a slightly more conventional and less hip way of responding.
Before I do, I just wanted to reflect on the few vresponses I came across so far tackling this "what would my life without the internet be like" [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O5d_YGHjBk&feature=related”] [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNpGdXpZXo4&feature=related”] [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74K80hweWyo&feature=related”] [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVj1NOIm5Es&feature=related”] [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xl1lcDcniQ&feature=related”] [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW44e_kLD9M&feature=related”] [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZUtAuLgqYg&feature=related”] [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu2Q7Xfq-e8&feature=related”] [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7ZUHVvwam0&feature=related”] query (I should let you know, I didn't watch all of these). First off, several of those whose vids I watched on youtube (and some that I couldn't re-find for the purpose of linking) are currently in college. Think about it. College! I'd known about middle school and high school kids walking around constantly texting as their main form of communication, in front of cell phones (for actually talking to people! what a concept!), getting on a computer to send an email, or (even more ancient) putting ink or graphite to papyrus' modern ancestor. This has been true for at least 3-4 years. Secondly, many of them are posting 2 or 3-minute deals where all they do is talk, talk, talk, and maybe occasionally walk. The most productive vlogs have some kind of purpose, either detailing a trip (with some tips for anyone who wants to go wherever the vlogger went), or imparting some bit of wisdom through a story or a life event also captured on said video... not just some, "I'm gonna hang out with my buddies...", "Now I'm hangin' out with my buddies...", and then "I had a blast with my buddies, tomorrow I gonna do mo' sheeat, g'nite!" kind of crap. Ohhhh boy, as a very young elder statesman, I have to ask: what has this world come to? Junk gets posted all the time now, whether it's on youtube, in music, or elsewhere, and, depending on the person's popularity, permeates the worldly culture. It's times like this, I think, the apocalypse has to be coming pretty soon, right? (Not that I really care for it to.)
Now, my original intent for exploring people personal vlogs on youtube was to try and get a scoop of the current human condition, up-to-date vproof (hah, another one! I'm going to put a "v" (for vid) in front of every word it modifies and claim my right to collect any and all compensatory change)... where was I? Oh yeah, video proof, or vproof, as I'm now calling it -- basically I'm interested in where human nature is right now. You know I have strong moral issues with it, and none of them necessarily because I read out of a book that, while I admire and recommend everyone read it for his/her own edification, I think is fundamentally flawed in some areas. But that's going to be a post for another time (unless, somehow I get enough dough to spill on a new compy and new camera, then it'll be on my next vpost... but, don't count on it).
You'll notice how easily I got distracted the last couple paragraphs. And I'm making no guarantees that it will change this paragraph. I just realized, today's topic goes quite nicely with my post on multitasking [“http://n8daoggblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/great-now-you-tell-me.html”] several weeks ago. While multitasking has affected the vast majority from older than my parents' generation to our budding members in Generation Z (the one after Y), this reliance on the internet has caused our children (and now collegians) to become more powerfully distracted (my opinion, not fact). "Sometimes I twitter in my sleep!" exclaims this one vlogger [“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O5d_YGHjBk&feature=related”]. "I just absolutely have to check my facebook or twitter at 2 AM! Someone may have commented on my status!" (OK, I made that one up; but I have heard something to this effect from someone in real life.)
Reliance on the internet has also created somewhat of a divide between everyone born in the 1990s and younger, and everyone born in the 1970s and older. That leaves the remaining few of us, those born in the 1980s (myself included, having been born in the smack-dab middle), kind of as a tipping island, doing all we can to keep both sides remotely connected. We have to be both internet-savvy and ancient-methods-of-communication-savvy.
So, to finally get down to the question: where would I be without the internet? Two-part answer: 1a.) Lost. 1b.) More relaxed. To answer 1a, I reply that a good chunk of my communication comes from gmail [“http://www.gmail.com/“], facebook [“http://www.facebook.com/“], AIM [“http://www.aim.com/“], and occasionally, skype [“http://www.skype.com/“]. Without it, I don't keep in touch with people from college, New York, or even Chicago. I also confer with Google Maps [“http://maps.google.com/“] frequently when I'm going someplace new, and rely on it quite a bit to get the best route(s). I also check with weather.com [“http://weather.com/“], as well as other sites for either education on a subject, or aid in job-related searches, or for information in general. Without it, it means I'm going to the Northfield Public Library, and then staying there for hours hoping my brain can muster the stamina to get enough work done to justify my leaving so I don't have to exert the effort to rush back for any last-minute closing of information gaps. Without relatively immediate communication with other people, and ready access to whatever information I want and need, I'm lost.
To answer 1b, I will link you to this blog blurb [“http://n8daoggblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/osr-immediate-recap.html”] I posted immediately after returning from Mississippi a year-and-a-half ago (that long already??). I will admit, it helped immensely that I had ready access to food, water, shelter, a pretty immediate knowledge of my schedule, oh, and a lot of people around that I could just sit and talk to. Also, I communicate with my family and closest friends largely over the phone, (I do still feel weird facebooking my parents sometimes), as well as friends I know who happen to be around (either when I'm in Minnesota or Chicago). I think I'm more relaxed, because I'm actually conversing, hearing their voice (although I'm still quite nervous talking on the phone). I don't know about you, but I always get a good feeling after a deep two-hour conversation with a close friend or family member. It's just not the same online. I still enjoy the conversation, but it feels less involved.
Now, I couldn't live like the Amish (occasionally I envy them for this reason), but I do believe a limit in internet use is optimal for my daily well-being. The stuff I described to explain why I'd be relatively lost without the internet fails to mention the laziness factor. If I walk or drive to the Northfield Public Library, it means I've gotten out of the house and made actual, physical contact with the world. It means I was outside when it was sunny and 76 degrees, or rainy and 42 degrees, or snowy and 10 degrees. It also means I'm communicating with people in person that I wouldn't have met online (the converse of the pro-internet argument where you meet people online that you wouldn't have in real life). To expound on the physical contact, it means you actually shake a boss' or a client's hand, hug a friend, or kiss your significant other, rather than type *shake hand*, *hug*, or *XOXO* (for kiss), all of which mean the thought is expressed, but the act of doing is still missing.
To conclude, the internet is great for keeping in touch, but terrible for any kind of physical contact. Heck, it might as well be midnight all day long, and winter all year long, as far as you know. I need it for the services it provides, but I can't substitute it for things that it just can't replace.
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