Growing up, I would say I had a somewhat typical involvement with media. I remember when we first got cable television and America Online 3.0, and how amazing and incredible it all seemed. . After school hours were now largely spent chatting and flirting with classmates on AOL Instant Messenger. From there, which was around 5th grade for me, my media and technology use has skyrocketed. I learned quickly how to use a lot of the media in my house and became probably more knowledgeable than my parents. Since that time, it seems as if media and technology has crept further into my life and has become universally the main means of researching, communicating, and interacting with the greater world.
Before we got cable, I remember hearing about Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon and how awesome all of the cartoons were and how they were on all of the time. I had been used to only getting my cartoon fix on Saturday mornings, watching X-men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons and Animaniacs. When the doors opened for more programs to watch, I remember being so excited. I quickly grew out of the cartoon phase; however, and began religiously following sports. Armed with Cable TV, I could watch Sportscenter at all hours of the day. After Cable TV, came Direct TV and than digital cable with On Demand and TiVo, all of which have continued to be a part of my life.
When we first got the internet, I was beside myself. Our Gateway 2000 was the most amazing machine I had ever seen. I could write in 50 different fonts (including Wingdings), play all sorts of cool games, and chat with friends on IM. I used it mostly at first for chatting, and became somewhat addicting to it. Everybody had to have screen name on AOL it seemed. I remember competing with my older brother and sister for internet time, along with my parents because the internet cable connected through our phone line. More and more it seemed to be the thing to do--to be on the web; but, as I've come to realize over time, it took away from a lot of other free time activities that I would otherwise be doing.
Moving on through high school, technology only became quicker, bigger, and more enhanced in pretty much every way. I remember the Napster Boom and the subsequent Kazaa and Limewire and Morpheus and all of the other file sharing programs that helped me steal music. That was fun while it lasted. Google and Ebay quickly became things to know and do on the internet. It was also memorable when internet switched from dial-up to cable modem, because everything was so much faster and more easily accessible. I remember learning how to search and sifting through webpages for research projects.
And then to college. Freshman year (2006), I opened a Facebook account because my older sister insisted that I HAD to. That blew up quickly. Also Youtube hit the mainstream that year and that was really phenomenal at the time. Soon, all school work seemed to be tied into media, there was WebCT, and now there is BlackBoard, there's e-mail, and blogger, and Twitter, and Google Docs, and Mapquest, and all sorts of new resources that I've grown up with and are now mainstays as bodies of information and programs of work. It really is amazing to look back on it all. Since college has began, I've had somewhat of a renaissance in the way that I obtain media and use it in my life. I read a lot more now, I watch less television, I still constantly use the internet (but I figure it is a must as a student), and try to spend much of my free time outdoors and away from it all. It is interesting that media and technology has subtly yet quickly become such a major force in my life and that realization is much of the reason of why I try to pursue alternative ways of educating and entertaining myself.
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