In the Heart of the Beast

I find the internet a beast of great pleasure and excitement - and also of time theft, distraction and worry. During my adolescence and young adulthood it was necessary to get information about the news of the day from the daily newspaper or televised news report (only at noon and 6pm) and other information from magazines or periodicals and by checking out books at the library (or rummage sales or bookstores) or going to the stacks for journal articles.

The internet information at my fingertips is, therefore, feels to me like a dreamland where I can find almost anything by doing a Google search and clicking a link. For me, that would be enough. I never anticipated the social connection aspect of the internet as I grew into it in my adulthood.

I was in my early-30s when I started taking undergraduate classes at the University of Minnesota Extension. After a few years of taking one evening class at a time, I quit my management job and matriculated as a full time student. During the course of my time there, I discovered the wonder of email and the internet. I had 3 student jobs on campus that fed my interests. I was a student liaison for the Registrar's Office, a Research Assistant in the Psychology Department and a Teaching Assistant in Computer Services. I have been characterized as a "super user" and I am also a website designer with html and css programming skills.

So, I blog, I create content and I know my way around the internet pretty well. I have entered, sunk into, and left many of the games and entertainments I've found on the internet. I have experienced first-hand the pitfalls of engagement and over and over again commit to disciplined use. However, I find that I have a curiosity that drives me to look at the new, and sometimes find myself throwing more and more hours into something that often eventually seems like a waste of time (like the Castle Age game I talked about during class - or mindless solitary card or puzzle games).

I suppose there are real-life examples of that kind of activity - my grandmother loved to play solitaire with real cards in the evenings after dinner. Or what about addictive gambling or other real activities that seem to steal our time? The internet doesn't have a corner on that market, but it still seems to be yet another place where the bait is held out and easy to take.

One of the things I would like to discover about the internet is what would it take to make it less of a threat to my time and more of a friend to my interests. I am starting to discover what I'll call the "heart" of the internet that exists in the human connection that it facilitates. Not a compulsive checking of email and Facebook, but a thoughtful sharing of ideas and invitations to connect in real life for good cause and genuine knowledge of each other. It is slow developing and needs building, but I am very interested in influencing a good outcome for this network in the air.