I Am (Made of) the Internet

An ode to the online realm

First of all, let me use the Internet with capital “I” one last time before it gets demoted to common word.

A few years ago I was asked for an assignment to write about ‘knowledge’, personal knowledge and expertise. Immediately I started thinking about what I knew, what I think I knew, and how that knowledge has been acquired during my life. It is commonly said that students forget about (most of) the information collected during their studies soon or a few years after graduation. I can’t agree more.

Yet some information is there, I do know that I know something. But where does this information come from? Is it from people such as family and friends? Or is it from school, or college? Is it from television and magazines, perhaps books?

Surely there is some merit in all the above, and I am not going to attempt to quantify precisely where all of these pieces of information came from. Still, all combined they may not even constitute a fraction of my overall knowledge (or perceived knowledge).

I am an avid content consumer and, perhaps unsurprisingly, everything comes from the almighty Internet.

I won’t delve into the musical, cinematic and artistic discoveries which have been possible only through the Internet.

I won’t list the countless online sources of information which satiate my daily (more or less) deep curiosity in a plethora of fields.

I won’t annoy you by praising certain learning apps, tutorials, how-tos, e-book and journal databases or MOOCs of which I could never get enough.

Yet I should mention that every single (noteworthy) achievement in my recent life has been possible thanks to the Internet. Every course of study, every trip, internship, job application, experience, meeting, attempt to learn a language and more have started online.

Nearly every bit of information I have assimilated in the recent years passed through the Internet. Any new writer I have discovered, new director, musician, actor, visionary, politician, scientist, event, magazine, company, book, recipe, athlete, cutting-edge technology, curious fact, breakthrough idea, inspiring speech, and more was found there.

Surely, some things which start online may be eventually inconclusive, ephemeral, unreliable or plain wrong (if not dangerous). Also, the sheer amount of opportunities and information is indeed overwhelming.

Yet Internet is a place where to start things and, lately, where everything appears to start. This can be your research for a new 4K television, or for your dream job, perhaps the first steps of your long-term relationship, or, why not, even a revolution.

If you are reading this, it means that you are online as much as I am. I am still nobody, but I am also many things at the same time, thanks to the Internet.

I am an occasional blogger, a researcher, a curiosity seeker, a language learner, a teacher, an amateur scientist, a fan, a follower, a geek, an admirer, a player, a reader, a social activist, an expert, a student, a daydreamer…

I am proud of all of them.

You can be too.

You just have to start…