The idea that the internet is the same it has always been or nothing more than a continuous steady evolution is one of the greatest lies people have been led to believe. In reality, the internet has not evolved, it has completely transformed.
There were two readings that I completed when researching this topic and both pointed to the fact that the internet is much more than what it seems. While we already imagine the internet as this everlasting thing with no boundaries that continues onto infinity, the point is that while it does have its limits it has still formed itself in such a way that it seems limitless. However, the idea that the limitless abyss of the internet is still the same internet that was invented in the seventies is misguided. It is, in fact, an entirely different being all together. The dawn, if not recreation, of the internet as we know it came when the concept of commercialization was introduced.
The first reading I will be sourcing is one by Tim O’Reilly. This reading discussed the idea of the internet 2.0.
In this reading there was a lot to cover. However what I grabbed the most from it was just how different the “internet” is from what it was originally supposed to be. It is almost scary how codependent we have become as it expands and becomes more and more accessible. The introduction of business and commerce has not just boosted but rocketed the internet to new heights but is also the downfall of its original purpose. It is something that we could not run from as a society. With the new internet or “Internet 2.0″ a Cain and Abel effect seemed to form along with a constant need to grow and expand and evolve. With mega-sites and corporations forming to grab at the virtual free real estate, the competitions and constant need for the “newest thing” took over. Whether it was MySpace versus Skype, Yahoo versus AOL, Google versus Bing, etc. these sites began popping up everywhere and the internet was no longer free space but a battleground.
The second reading comes from an excerpt of James Curran’s book “Misunderstanding the Internet”. Another hefty reading, it cam be summed up in a single sentence: The idea that it is “the same internet” is the biggest lie one can tell about the this expansive thing known as the internet. The internet is not some frivolous place one can venture into innocently or in a simple pursuit of knowledge anymore. With the internet being such an all consuming thing, one must venture in with caution and purpose, despite what it’s original purpose was supposed to be. It is, however, something that can be severely misunderstood by an user. The internet is like a massive ocean anyone could end up adrift in and with so many people inputting and exporting information it is complicated enough to get confused by. A single Google search or saved picture on Pinterest will not only lead the user to a seemingly infinite amount of other pages but it will even lead to suggestions and ads and emails that are so tailored to one’s interests or curiosities that it can feel as if a camera is constantly on them.
That is a whole other concept of digital media and its interactions with users that I am sure I will be discussing in a later post. However, for now, it is simply evident that the internet is not what it was invented to be and, in fact, it is a whole other beast entirely. It is, in fact, the internet 2.0.
