Life on the Internet Superhighway
I have to admit that being online is a big part of my life, especially now that I am living in a more isolated way. I’m not just referring to our current virus enforced isolation. I have become progressively more reliant on the internet to do many of the things I used to do in person.
I used to bank and pay bills in person. I pretty much stopped doing that when we moved to Tasmania because my bank did not have a branch here. I used to write cheques. Cheques are so 20th century now. I don’t think I’ve written one for more than 15 years.
I used to buy a lot of dolls at shops, markets, doll shows etc. I still occasionally do that. It is my preferred way to shop, but more and more I buy them online because of the wider choice available and the fact that there are not many doll shows or markets that I can go to.
I used to buy my groceries at the shops although in later years David did that chore. When he became unable to drive anymore I started ordering online and getting them delivered and have done so ever since.
I have studied online too and found it a lot easier to focus on my work when I was not surrounded by a lot of other people who were more interested in talking, texting or using social media in the classroom than in getting on with theirs. If I want to do research for something I am interested in, something to do with a hobby, a place I want to visit, find a recipe or just find out who the star of some film was or who sung that song that’s stuck in my head, the internet is where I go.
Most of my entertainment comes from the internet too. I might download a book for my Kindle, watch a concert on YouTube, stream radio stations or watch Netflix, Prime or one of the catch up TV stations.
Finally, going online is how I interact with the world a lot of the time. It is the way that I find out what is going on in my old neighbourhood as well as my new one. I can talk to friends and family or find out what’s going on in their lives by reading their social media. I’ve made new friends in other parts of the world through blogging as well as discovering an absorbing hobby.
I suppose you could say I have become a citizen of the Internet.
Our Other Blog: Two Sisters and Two Points of View 
I think the entire world has joined you. We are all online citizens.
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I am also way more productive learning or working at home. I’ve always been good at finding a solution to a problem on my own, but I always had trouble following someone else’s path to a solution or learning methods of teachers that might not have been fitting for me or the way I do understand/learn things. I just realized over the years that I need the topic and the task and then I can feature it out on my own. The internet is a great tool to learn new things or work on something. I also agree… I can focus better on a task if I do it alone in my own room.
I also agree with the entertainment aspect. Boredom is now a very strange feeling. I barely still have that. If I really don’t know what to do, I boot the PC and do something online. You named some good examples.. videos, communication… whatever. So many things to do.
While I am in a medium-sized city, the internet is still a very important part of my life. I can’t imagine anymore living without the internet… I know some people still do. But for me, it’s part of the modern life. In fact, I do believe that people who make use of the internet, do actually outpace those who don’t. Some would bring up points like the tech makes you dependent or addictive, but that’s no argument either… many people know how to maintain a healthy balance between real-life and online-activities. I’d rather feel dependent if I wouldn’t have the tool to do my own research, I’d have to trust whatever people tell me.
Yep, fellow citizen of the Internet here 🙂
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I was about 40 when I first learned to use a computer. I felt that if I didn’t learn I would be at a disadvantage. I didn’t start to use the internet until a couple of years later. In fact I can still remember the first couple of times I used it because we had to go to an internet cafe.
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I love the internet. It definitely makes life easier especially if you live far from a city or are alone
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It does which is why it is a shame that rural people often get the worst service, they need it the most.
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