Drift, or well-worn path?
Four articles and some random internet errands later, my digital dérive came to a close. But was it really a true drift?
I started with a profile of the star of the Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo. The story, titled, “Giannis Antetokounmpo Is Unbothered,” was more in-the-weeds NBA trade talk than I would have wanted, so I mainly skimmed. I spent last summer in Milwaukee and report on the Missouri men’s basketball team, so basketball is an interest for me. For this reason, it was a worthy place to start my internet drift — something I wanted to read, but wasn’t required to follow.
For some reason, I felt a weird sense of freedom with this. Calling this 30 minutes a “digital dérive” instead of “procrastination when you should be doing other things” was oddly freeing. After reading about Giannis, I read an article about teachers who crowdfund for basic school supplies on EdWeek, an education-focused website that I read when I find time.
Then I came back to the real world for my next two digital stops — I clocked in to my job at the Columbia Missourian newspaper, then went to a saved search to see if Chicago Public Schools is hiring in its communications department. (They are; my to-do list grew while I was supposed to be taking a leisurely walk.)
I drifted back to the news, which is my go-to internet consumption strategy when I want to learn something without having a road map for doing so. I first read coronavirus coverage by the New York Times.
The coronavirus coverage has been especially interesting to me because I visited China last September and October as part of a school trip that involved tennis reporting. We visited Beijing during China’s National Day holiday, which is essentially the Chinese version of the 4thof July. Beijing attracts a lot of tourism during the holiday, which is full of lavish decorations and a huge military parade. As a result, when I picture my time in China, I picture stopped traffic on the highways, crowded tourist attractions, and just an abundance of people at all times. The coronavirus images, which highlight the issue in a way that’s as important as the words, are especially haunting when compared to my memories of Beijing.
Lastly, I finished my digital dérive with a dive into the New Hampshire primaries for the 2020 election. I follow election coverage closely, so this isn’t really a deviation from my usual media habits.
The above statement made me wonder whether my digital dérive was really a drift, or whether it was 30 minutes of me walking a well-worn digital path: one that I would walk if I gave myself the time, one that feels old and somewhat familiar. I’m not one to click on ads, though, and I enjoy reading journalism when I have time, so I’m not sure whether this dérive represents a true drift through the depths of the internet or a traditional path that tells a lot about me.
