For this assignment, I interviewed my aunt, Kris (in her early 60's--I didn't inquire about her exact age), my husband, Steve (age 40), and my oldest son, Alexander (age 21). I thought about interviewing my second son, Aaron (age 19), for this assignment, but his internet usage has dropped off significantly since he left home and can no longer afford internet service. He and Alex had similar internet habits before now.
Aunt Kris mostly uses the internet to keep up with her children, her other family members (like me, her half-brother's daughter), and her friends. She and I keep in touch through e-mail, and she regularly reads my blog. Other than that, she doesn't do a lot of web-surfing or online shopping. The internet is not a huge part of her life.
Steve spends most of his day online. While at work, he switches between two computers, receiving information from both the normal internet and the classified military intranet. While at home, he enjoys spending time online. His interests are widely varied, and he loves to find websites about history, aviation, science fiction, music, and hockey. Steve and his best friends from high school use the internet to keep in touch, swapping e-mails regularly and chatting online when possible. He is very comfortable being online, and he often buys things online rather than shopping in stores. Steve absolutely loves eBay, and I would even go so far as to say he's addicted to it. Anyone with over 1100 feedbacks as a buyer is an addict in my book! (I tease him about it all of the time.) The internet has probably contributed to Steve's lack of exercise, because he'd rather be online than work out, but all in all, he views the internet as a positive thing.
Alexander grew up with the internet, and he uses it as much as possible. In addition to his MySpace page, he likes to chat online with his friends and his girlfriend. Alex is a junior at the University of Washington this year, and he uses his laptop's wireless connection to go online between classes. He enjoys "wiki-diving," downloading role-playing materials (Dungeons & Dragons, among others), and general web-surfing. "Wiki-diving" is his word for all of the time he spends on Wikipedia, going from one entry to another, learning about everything under the sun. Alex also uses the words, "social lubricant," to describe how being online makes things easier for him to communicate with other people, online and off.
My experience with this assignment agrees with my perception of how the internet is used by different generations. I fall into the middle generation, and many of my friends use the internet the same way that I do. My husband's birth father is similar to Aunt Kris, while my sons' peers often use the internet the same way that Alex does. Obviously, society at large is widely varied, with some senior citizens being more net-savvy than some teenagers. In general, I think the generations are fairly distinct in their usage of the internet.
According to Wood & Smith, computers and the internet are becoming very common in today's society. Internet access can be found at coffee shops and fast food restaurants, as well as bookstores and libraries. Even though Aaron can't afford to have full-time access in his apartment, he can take his laptop to other locations to connect to the internet when he's not working. This illustrates that even people making minimum wage can find ways to get online, although it does require more of an effort than that needed by those of us with computers and internet access at home.
When I first became a mother, there were debates about whether or not it's healthy for children to watch television. Personally, I don't watch a lot of TV. I enjoy a few series (like Life and Battlestar Galactica), and if there's an interesting show on the History Channel or the Discovery Channel, I'll watch that. When I'm not actively watching a show, I prefer to have the TV off. However, a point was made to me, way back when Alex was young, that a certain amount of television knowledge is important to kids. To use a modern example, my eight-year-old daughter would be ridiculed by her peers if she didn't know about Hannah Montana. As long as I don't let my children spend their entire day glued to the TV, they will be okay in the long run. The same sort of thing is happening with the internet today. My daughter's friends are very much into Webkins, which are stuffed animals that apparently come with a code allowing the kids to recreate their toy online. Despite the fact that I think it's a waste of her time to do this, I need to be respectful of her desire to find common ground with her friends. Rhiannon will be getting her first Webkin for her birthday next week, and I will be allowing her to go online, with supervision.
Our society has become very tied to the internet, and although there are differences between how the different generations use the internet, the internet is here to stay.
2 comments:
I liked your post a lot. Especially the information about your husband - mine is also a borderline internet addict. My husband spends a lot of time online researching a lot of random things. He's a sponge for information. Right now he has about 10 library books going and supplements with the internet. He's been homebrewing for 12 years or so, and there's a wealth of information on the subject online. He also is an avid outdoorsman, and is always looking for a new adventure.
I also liked how you incorporated your children and their time on the internet. The term "social lubricant" is a new one to me, but makes sense. I’ll have to remember that one! I liked seeing you talk about the debate of TV with kids too. My kids do watch movies and [mostly] commercial-free age-appropriate television. Thankfully they aren’t glued to the TV though. My kids are high energy and would rather be doing stuff.
My kids are toddlers and have yet to really spend time on the computer – although they will never know life without it. My oldest starts preschool this fall, and will have computer classes there. I figured I'd rather have them introduce it and I'll reinforce what he's learned at home. For now, I've enjoyed seeing my kids imaginations flourish and their joy in playing outdoors and getting physical activity. I know that things will change with school and peer pressure to keep up with all the growing trends. For now, I'm glad they enjoy the simplicity of just being kids, using their imagination (without the use of batteries) and being active outside.
It's great that your children are so full of energy! Believe it or not, that's a good thing. My seventh child, Matthew, didn't like being out of his crib as a baby and toddler. All he wanted to do was sleep all day long, and he had a lot of sensory issues that interfered with his development. He's getting better now, and TV has really helped him come out of his shell. He loves Little Einsteins and the Wiggles, and he will re-enact his favorite Disney movies (The Incredibles and Toy Story).
I'm looking forward to school starting again. Matthew goes to a special education preschool, and he really misses it. I miss having a little more peace and quiet around here!
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