Rebuild the Internet
For me, the Internet is a tool I use for multiple reasons. Such as, communication, research, information/news, social media, entertainment, online shopping and security. Below is an image of how I imagine the internet rebuilt. In the image I have it split into the categories I listed above, but it is on a spider web. The reason for this is because we access all of these platforms through the WEB, but we can’t access the WEB without WI-FI. Which can be found in the center of the WEB because it is the key to the internet. I decided to use this as my representation of the internet rebuilt because everything you need is all in one spot. Every user has different domains they go to when using the internet, but it is all in one place. WI-FI is the key to the internet unlocking every possible door. The spider web represents how you’re connected as well as how these sites and apps are connected to each other. All with similar information about me as the user. In todays world we have so many different Identities online the WEB represents how all those identities are connected making your online presence.
Communication is a daily use of internet for me. Whether its connecting with friends over Imessage, attending class over Zoom, emailing a professor about an assignment, or having a conversation with a group of people I’ve never met before over Reddit. The internet is used daily by me for the means of communication.
Research isn’t as used as quite frequently as communication. It is used when I need to research for a project for school. I use databases found through the UMW Library to lead me to information that will help my project as-well as inform me on my projects. Articles and ebooks are very useful in terms of research. I use them for background information or as works to be cited in my projects.
Information/News is used daily because I receive notifications on my laptop and phone about important events that are going to happen or have happened. Which sparks my interest and leads me down the rabbit hole of more information.
Social media, growing up I’ve always been surrounded by social media. I don’t know why it is so appealing but a lot of my internet time is spent on social media. Whether it is scrolling through my feed on Instagram or Twitter, watching videos on YouTube or snapping friends on Snapchat. Social media is a way for me and other users to connect to friends of ours, celebrities we look up to, or follow along with companies and organizations we are interested in.
Entertainment must be important to my family and I since we have all of the top subscriptions to entertainment outlets like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime video, Disney Plus and the list goes on.
Online shopping is something that has become more popular for my internet use. Before the pandemic I rarely shopped online maybe the occasional amazon purchase, but since the pandemic I’ve found a lot of my time shopping is online now. I purchase my groceries online and pick them up when they’re ready. I can order food to be delivered to my door through apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash and GrubHub. I can buy my clothes online because there is no point of going into stores because you can’t try anything on. My world of shopping has completely changed due to the pandemic and the internet has met all my needs.
I put security on my web because the internet is as safe as you make it. Most of my accounts prompt me with “do you want to setup two-factor authentication?” or the use of a unique password which is basically random letters, numbers and symbols that nobody can remember unless they save the password. Antivirus software is used to protect your computer from possible viruses you come across while on the internet and possible downloads you do. All of these are ways in which internet users protect their identity and their privacy. Which raises the question of how much privacy do we really have on the internet?
You can see looking at the image my web isn’t fully filled in and this was done so on purpose because I don’t use the internet to its fullest potential. The internet is still growing and so am I as a user. My online presence is still growing and I will be connected to more in the future. Let me know what you as a viewer would have on your WEB. What would be the same and what would be different?
