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How The Internet Has Affected My Life

© Janice Karin

Every once in a while I am asked to complete a survey of some sort that asks "How much time do you spend online each week?" They are usually multiple choice and include choices like 0-1 hour,1-3 hours,4-7 hours, 8+ hours. I spend more than that online per day. A lot more.

I could sit here and tell you about how I spend time researching everything from where to find old out-of-print books to the current location of people I've lost touch with to some new scientific theory. I could tell you how I do most of my shopping including my grocery shopping online. All of this is true, and all of these things have positively affected my life. But they are all things I could have done through other mediums.

So yes, the Internet has changed the way I do many things, saving me a lot of time and money I might have otherwise spent on cabfare.

But much more than all of these things, the Internet has had a profound impact on how I meet people and interact with them.

I live in Boston, and have a core group of friends that I see in person and do things with. But the majority of my friends do not live here. They live in Texas and California and Australia and Sweden and just about everywhere else.

Through Internet Relay Chat, better known as IRC, I share my life with all of these people. They hear me complain when I am irritated. They listen to me when I am depressed and make suggestions about how to better look at or solve the cause of my problem. They celebrate with me when good things happen. Similarly, I listen to and help them. I am a valued member of a virtual family. What's more, this family is available twenty-hours a day seven days a week. If I want to talk at 4 am, someone will be there.

Like any family, people weave in and out of the house, or in this case, our IRC channel. Some of us are home most of the time, while others are only home a few hours a day. Some drop by every once in a while to visit after "moving away." We support and tease each other like siblings.

So if for some reason I could no longer access the Internet, I'd miss how easy it is to research things, but I could go to a library. I'd miss buying my groceries online but I could always take a cab. I'd miss the bargain hunting of online shopping, but I could always go to a physical store and get the same products. But there is no way I could replace my online family.

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