2020: The Year Spent Online
The internet gets a bad wrap, and most of the time it’s deserved. It creates just as many problems as opportunities. However, this year in particular I have been so incredibly grateful for the internet. In a world where physical, in-person connection wasn’t possible, the internet was our saving grace. For this final digital studies project, I want to take a look at the best things the internet has brought me this year and some food for thought about what lessons we should take with us when the world returns to normal.
1. Time with and appreciation for friends and family.
Like most people, I spent so much time on Zoom and FaceTime with friends and family this year, but I noticed something that I never expected — because we were using our phones to see each other, we were far less distracted during our conversations. I spent hours talking to friends and family members, completely engaged and not scrolling through social media or texting other people at the same time. Somehow, by not being able to be in the same room as my friends, I felt more connected to them. I also found myself missing them more than I thought. I was talking to my friends for hours every day, on FaceTime or on the phone, but I still missed them. It made me realize how much I value my relationship with my friends and how important face-to-face interactions are to me.
2. The ability to go to school
It certainly wasn’t ideal, I would have much-preferred being on campus and in classrooms, but I do feel fortunate that we had the ability to continue school online rather than having to stop all together. I thought about this a lot over the last few months, how different life would have been if the pandemic had hit 10–15 years ago. If we didn’t have the technology that we have now, it wouldn’t be possible to carry on going to school entirely online (at least not in the same way). It wouldn’t have been possible for as many people to work from home. It would have been really difficult to have to take essentially two years off of my degree because being in a classroom wasn’t an option, so I’m grateful to the internet for enabling me to stay in school.
3. New hobbies
Being stuck in the house limited access to my hobbies. I’m the kind of person who likes to get out and go do things — sometimes they’re solo activities like hiking or kayaking, or going to a coffee shop with friends. I could still go on hikes alone, but I had to be careful to keep a distance from other people and I couldn’t go kayaking because the parks were closed and not renting boating equipment. In terms of coffee shops and other gathering places, those were obviously closed too. This forced me to pick up some new hobbies and revisit some old ones I had drifted away from years ago. I have read more books for fun this year than I have in 5+ years. I used to love reading but always prioritized other activities. I also did more arts and crafts this year during my free time. I hand-made a lot of decorations for my apartment and luckily it was not only something to do during quarantine, but it also saved me some money on decor. At the start of the year, I didn’t think I’d be saying this, but I really love TikTok. It seems silly, but during a time when people are so isolated, there is something really appealing about a mindless platform that is specifically tailored to your interests so you feel a sense of connection and community with the people who like the same videos as you.
Overall, I have gained a lot from the internet this year, but it would be naive to think that there won’t be any consequences to basically spending an entire year online.
1. How difficult will it be to transition back to in-person school and work?
So many of us are just starting to get into the swing of online school, but what happens when we’ve been doing this for a year and are suddenly told to go back to classes on campus. Will the transition feel like a relief or will in-person discussions be harder/seem more daunting? How will people feel being back in an office with all of their co-workers? And what about kids, will they know how to behave in a classroom setting, and if not right away, how long will it take them to relearn?
2. Are people going to be less tactile?
It’s been a year since we’ve been allowed to shake hands with strangers or hug friends we haven’t seen in a long time. Will people be less tactile with one another now that we’ve had to break our habit of showing emotion and connecting in that way? Are people going to prefer to catch up over FaceTime rather than meet up in person? If all of these things end up being true, will it be just an adjustment period or has society changed forever?
3. How will this time affect our relationship with the internet long-term?
This is, to me, perhaps the most important question. My personal experience spending most of the year engaging with people solely online has led to a greater appreciation of in-person connection and activities out of the house, but one could argue that all this time people are spending online could lead to one of two futures: 1) People realize how important it is to see people in person and get out of the house and make the necessary changes to their lives to do so, or 2) people realize they can have a reasonably full life almost entirely online so their reliance/dependence on the internet only continues to grow once restrictions are lifted. I sincerely hope that, despite how grateful I am for the internet this year, people use this as a catalyst to step back from the internet and begin using it as a tool again rather than the medium through with they live their lives.
