Culture ed, Mollie Quirk, shares her thoughts and feelings on her generation’s be all and end all.. the internet
I have a love-hate relationship with the internet. I love it because it allows me to express myself and get my writings read, but I also hate it because it acts as a well of complete and utter doom. I recently read a book called ‘It Started With A Tweet’ by author, Anna Bell, and it opened my eyes endlessly. Since having read this book, my perception of the internet has really changed…
The internet used to be a luxury, something we would click the back button of our old Samsung slide up phone 30 times in fear of being charged extra – but now it’s something we cannot seem to live without. So much is defined by the internet, and in many ways we are defined by the internet. Friendships are defined by snapstreaks on Snapchat; popularity by your following on Instagram; and beauty by the amount of likes you receive on your Facebook profile photo. In a short space of time, the internet has sucked us into the deepest, darkest well that we are all unable to crawl out of.
I feel that the internet has a really terrible impact on so many things – especially mental health. Seeing how ‘amazing’ everybody’s lives seem and having the fear of missing out as well – the internet can be toxic and I really hate that can it be.
Do you feel that the internet has a negative impact upon your mental health? E.g. social media, seeing everybody’s so-called ‘perfect’ lives?
— 🦋 Mollie Quirk 🦋 (@molliequirk97) June 25, 2018
As you can see from the above poll, the internet affects so many of us in a negative way, and this really is not ideal.
Nothing is your own anymore. Most people have their GPS enabled, so you can see every single footstep of their day if you wish. Plus most people post every single thing that they do in a day online too. Nothing is private, instead it is served up on a plate for everybody to dissect and form opinions on. People are living a lie – making their lives look amazing when they are not, among many other lies too.
Another thing, is the constant expectation of instant replies – although it is lovely to get a fast response, it is extremely demanding (and ridiculous) to expect somebody (or to be expected) to reply almost instantly. Thanks to the internet, if we have not heard back from somebody in 10 minutes, we instantly think they have some sort of problem with us, this in turn creates drama among friendship groups and friction between families. The internet makes us so incredibly paranoid – god forbid somebody actually has a life, hence why they might have read your message and not replied, or not kept up snap streak. Honestly, the internet is such a toxic place and it is such a shame that we have all become so reliant on it.
You may be thinking, “are you serious? you run a blog, you constantly post on social media, and you basically revolve your world around the internet”, yes, it may look that way from the outside looking in, but like anything, you need to move with the times. Plus, I am not one of those “Just had a Sunday roast xx’ Facebook status uploaders – a lot of my life is hidden, disguised and blurred so nobody could guess a thing.
And although I wish I lived in the 1920s or prior, when writing letters was popular and relying on the internet was not, it’s never going to happen, not in a million years – so I need to move with the times and utilise the internet, despite my mild hatred for it.
My career, will no doubt revolve around the internet and in many ways it is a catch 22, but I want a good job, a good life, writing is my passion and in this day and age, it really is the only way in which I can get my writings read by the masses, as print based media really is not appreciated as much these days.
Originally published on www.theperksofmolliequirk.blogspot.co.uk, read the original post here.
Sub-edited by Callum Raines
