Yes, the title is a mouthful, but it makes you shudder when it really hits you, right?
Just play your daily routine through your head. Now revisit it, but remove any access to the web whatsoever. Are you sweating yet?
Sure, there are millions of people who actually use the internet as part of their work routine; it has become the cornerstone of our global economy. But for most of us it has overthrown television as the recreational outlet of choice.
- Twitter allows us to share every mundane aspect of our lives.
- We can play financial Russian roulette by banking electronically.
- We plan our meals, vacations and even buy movie tickets over the web.
- Some use it to find a mate.
- Some use it because they don’t have a mate… and probably never will.
- You can completely shed your identity – and if you prefer, gender – and embark on a quest of medieval lands.
- Video games have never felt so real.
- Access to news, incorrect weather forecasts and celebrity gossip/sex tapes has never been so immediate.
I’ve only overlooked/missed about a million other uses, but I’ve saved the best for last. From the same college minds that brought you keggers, electronic note sharing and rohypnol, comes the modern wonder known as Facebook!
Now you can reconnect with old friends you barely had any use for way back when, relatives you can’t stand, and even acquaintances like your insurance guy’s half-cousin’s wife! You can run a farm from your living room. Or if you prefer, you can hurl virtual sheep at your loved ones. Facebook has more than 800 million “active users”.
This term kills me. How can someone who sits on their ass for hours at a time be considered “active”?
Nonetheless, I have to concede Facebook’s superiority as a social networking platform and a way for Mark Zuckerberg to actually get laid. It has become an integral part of the daily routine of millions – 800 million and growing to be precise.
Of course, crack has become an integral part of millions of lives as well, but that’s neither here nor there. My point is this: could we survive the loss of the web as a part of global economy and infrastructure? I really don’t know.
But could we survive the loss of the web to our personal ecosystem? Not without a lot of screaming, cursing and self-evaluation.
So whatever you do, run that virus check daily.
Nicely said! Internet posts rule!
As do you, my blogging pal!