Journal #2
A History of the Internet:
“People are confused of what the internet is”
Everyone is the same or is there a hierarchy
Panopticon, air travel routes
What I found interesting about the history of the internet were the various unique depictions of the internet. I find it fascinating that in some way or another a person's private relationship with the internet shapes the way they see the grander scheme of things. To some extent, I think the various depictions of the internet reinforce the somewhat utopian nature of the internet. It was interesting to see the different network structures and how some perceive the internet to be more similar to a panopticon or more similar to an air travel route. I wonder to what extent our perceptions of the structure of the internet are determined by our culture or political climate.
Reboot the World
In our everyday use of the internet, I rarely think of who’s watching or who might be paying attention. I remember sitting in my second grade classroom and the teacher told us never to use our full name online because the internet was a dangerous place. We were taught to only put the first letter of our last name to keep our identity hidden. As I grew up and, like everyone else, started to use the internet in my daily life, I became desensitized to a lot of the harms and dangers of putting my information out on the internet. Big corporations using my data to send me targeted ads didn’t seem that bad and who really cared if Facebook had access to who my friends were? It was when I read this article did I think about my digital footprint again. The quote “if you don’t take care of yourself online, someone else will” really resonated with me. It was less that the internet was a scary or dangerous place but one where you need to not be so careless with your identity. The tangibility of one’s self in the internet realm is just as real and physical as in the physical world.
My Website is a Shifting House:
One of the main reasons I took this class was because I wanted to build a personal website for myself, both professionally and personally. After reading the essay My Website is a Shifting House Next to a River of Knowledge, I reflected a lot on why I wanted to build a personal website. A large part of building a personal website for me was the ability to build my identity and myself on the web. I hated how my identity on the web was defined by other people. I had no control over who I was or who I wanted to be on the web. Sure, I run my Instagram account and I have a Facebook but the content I choose for those platforms are catered towards the style of content or the people I interact with on those platforms. I think that building a room on the web for yourself allows you to establish the bubble from which you can interact with the rest of the internet.
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