I guess I’m curious about generations (namely GenZ and Alpha) who didn’t live in a pre-Internet time. Like,

  • How was the concept first explained to you, or when did it click?
  • Do you understand how insane it is to have the aggregate of all human knowledge — the only comparable thing once being a physical library or university — one search away? That it’s absolutely insane you can engage in a real-time conversation with someone on the opposite side of the world? That you can find niche communities in an instant?
  • Were your parents super strict about internet usage? How quickly did you find workarounds?
  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 years ago

    I’m from the pre-Internet era and even I have trouble imagining how to get shit done without it these days.

  • Klaymore@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    2 years ago

    Born in 2004, I barely used the internet as a kid. Most my video games were off of CDs, and I occasionally got to use my dad’s Steam account. In like 4th grade I played some Wizards101, League of Legends, and some flash games, and started watching Minecraft youtubers. Besides that I mostly used the internet to download Minecraft mods. I kinda eased into the internet that way so I never really was surprised at having so much accessible to me.

    I didn’t get on social media until I got on Reddit in high school. I tried Tumblr a bit but didn’t like it since it was too different. I still don’t use Twitter or anything, just Reddit and Lemmy and occasionally Pinterest.

  • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 years ago

    Do you understand how insane it is to have the aggregate of all human knowledge — the only comparable thing once being a physical library

    I’m learning to build a house. The internet is useless. The pile of 1980s books in my FIL’s basement is teaching me the vast majority. The internet could be a wonderful thing. But, it’s primarily profit optimized bullshit. The only exception I’ve found is video-based basic computer science instruction.

    • tetris11@lemmy.ml
      0·
      2 years ago

      It wasn’t always though. There was a time 15 years ago where you could find really good websites with tips on how to build a house.

      • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
        0·
        2 years ago

        “Tips” don’t teach me how to build a house. They’re niche case ideas for someone who already knows how to build one.

        • tetris11@lemmy.ml
          0·
          2 years ago

          Fine, “really good instructional schematics written by the book authors themselves” on how to build a house. You get what I’m saying.

          • SirDerpy@lemmy.world
            1·
            2 years ago

            Now that you’ve chosen to say it I understand.

            I agree that the internet was much more useful in the early days. Much of that content of merit is likely still there. But, it’s much, much harder to find. One basically needs to specifically know what resources exists before searching for it.

  • InSamsara@lemmy.world
    01·
    2 years ago

    Gen Z (2006) here, I definitely grew up with the internet since I was born after it became mainstream for the public. Before learning about the internet I was restricted to an iPod which I got when I was a little older than 5 years old which was restricted to a few games, ones of those were minecraft. My only exposure to the internet at the time was going to my grandmas where I would watch minecraft videos on her TV or play games on her laptop. This is when I first grasped the concept of the internet, in which I didn’t see it as an information library at the time but more so easy fun since I wasn’t “really” on the internet. I was like 10 when I started using social media, but even then most of it was just YouTube and later Reddit.

    I’m pretty impressed by the collection of knowledge the internet has, it’s definitely a step up from the community library I went to when I was a kid but now I only go so often. More so in my early teenage years I mostly used the internet for communication since I was mainly on mainstream social media platforms. Nowadays, I mostly use less mainstream platforms because I was blind to how corporate and monetized the internet was for the past two decades. I also use archive.org a lot to watch anime, movies, and read pdfs since I don’t have to pay for the real thing. The internet does have an upside, and I would say my favorite part of the internet is its convenience. As for my internet usage, my parent’s didn’t really care, lol.

  • Linux is for pussies@dormi.zone
    02·
    2 years ago

    1. I was already on bulletin board systems long before the Internet.

    2. It’s not that insane, considering the younger generations are completely inept at boolean searches.

    3. How would our parents be strict about internet when we’re growing up if it didn’t exist?