I felt that this video had a lot of interesting things to say about the different manners in which people interact with modern technologies. Online, many feel that the issues of race, nationality, sex, and age fade away. I would argue differently, as the Internet is often a source of some of the most infuriating ignorance on these topics, but either way, there are new divisions presented in online culture that don’t exist in the outside world.
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Many believe anyone who didn’t grow up with digital technology is doomed to always be a “foreigner” who might learn to discuss the Internet fluently, but will never really assimilate or fit in. This fits into the conventional wisdom that young people intuitively “get” technology in a way that older people never will.
In this video, a different ideology is put forth. This video posits that Internet users should be divided into “visitors” and “residents”. Visitors are those who use the Internet sparingly, leaving little trace of their presence anywhere online. This population typically think of the Internet as being a powerful tool, but one that is somewhat static; they tend to call upon information and expertise available online, but don’t add their voice to the discussion. Residents, meanwhile, view the Internet as a significant aspect of their daily lives, and tend to have online presences that can be found by others. This group also tends to view the Internet as a communal and inherently social space.
For my part, I don’t really see myself in either category. When I was younger, I was very much in the “resident” category, always on social media and eager to chime into the discussion. Over time, I found myself getting more and more fed up with so-called “experts” who didn’t actually have any expertise whatsoever, and generally found that, while there is a dedicated population of intelligent people with valuable contributions, that group is around 10% of the overall community in any given situation. The other 90%, meanwhile, is mostly a tsunami of “first!” posts, casual racism, sexism, and/or homophobia, people who get all of their information from Fox News, and people who may well be powerfully insane. To that end, I have found myself detaching from my past habit of active contribution, as it is more draining than helpful in many cases.
In this video, a different ideology is put forth. This video posits that Internet users should be divided into “visitors” and “residents”. Visitors are those who use the Internet sparingly, leaving little trace of their presence anywhere online. This population typically think of the Internet as being a powerful tool, but one that is somewhat static; they tend to call upon information and expertise available online, but don’t add their voice to the discussion. Residents, meanwhile, view the Internet as a significant aspect of their daily lives, and tend to have online presences that can be found by others. This group also tends to view the Internet as a communal and inherently social space.
For my part, I don’t really see myself in either category. When I was younger, I was very much in the “resident” category, always on social media and eager to chime into the discussion. Over time, I found myself getting more and more fed up with so-called “experts” who didn’t actually have any expertise whatsoever, and generally found that, while there is a dedicated population of intelligent people with valuable contributions, that group is around 10% of the overall community in any given situation. The other 90%, meanwhile, is mostly a tsunami of “first!” posts, casual racism, sexism, and/or homophobia, people who get all of their information from Fox News, and people who may well be powerfully insane. To that end, I have found myself detaching from my past habit of active contribution, as it is more draining than helpful in many cases.