Talking about talking about the internet

[dan-likes-trees]

I'm doing some work on how the way we talk about the internet having changed over the years - thought I'd mine the forum for ideas..

 

How have you changed in the way that you discuss and talk about the internet?

Do you talk about 'going on the internet' anymore, or has it become so normal that such phrases aren't used?

 

Phrases like 'surfing the web', 'cyberspace' and even 'the web' seem less common than they were in the 90s and 00s. Brand names seem more common recently; 'google it', 'facebook me', or referncing the device you use - 'ill check on my phone'.

 

I'm using it all for an animation, so any interestingly animate-able phrases are even more handy...

[Ashley]

Whatever happened to Connie and Jeeves? Think they hooked up?

 

That should be your animation.

 

 

Bad jokes aside, I think that's one of the interest things. Whereas we used to talk about the internet, we are now more influenced in how we talk by the internet itself. Gifs and memes have become part of our lexicon ("same"). Even colloquialisms can now spread more quickly because of the internet, can't it bae? So I guess maybe we've moved away from talking about the internet as this separate activity that needs its own lexicon to understand or discuss to it being part of us.

you might argue.

[S.C.G]

For me it's just "Online" because it's always there.

 

If I'm asked at work about signing up to anything I seem to use the phrase "It's all online these days..." usually followed by "Or you can phone or text" then people usually say "Online's probably easier isn't it?" to which I just confirm that it is.

 

Phrases like "I'm just going on the internet" seemed to be more previlent in the late Nineties or early Noughties when we had a 56K dial-up connection you needed to connect to, then disconnect when you'd finished so as to not waste minutes because it was metered access and it rendered the landline phone unusable while someone was online; you could have one or the other, not both.

 

The internet is such a commonly used tool these days though that it's frightening at just how reliant we have become upon it in some ways...

 

Of course when I'm at home, I have access to the internet all the time but when out and about, I don't even attempt to access it, neither do I really have the capability upon my person to do so; while I understand the use of having access to the internet via a smartphone, I still value face-to-face conversation... a lot of which has been lost as I always see people on their smartphones because they can.

 

There's nothing wrong with that if that's really what people want, I just choose not to partake in it personally out of choice.

 

But that's a whole different sub-section I suppose revolving around etiquette, when it comes to just the internet, it's there and I'm glad of it - I wouldn't be typing this if it weren't for its existence - I certainly make use of it though I don't feel like I require it everywhere I go; having grown up with it though I can say that using it now compared to how it was in the early days, it's a lot more natural a place to use as a resource and communication tool then it used to be.

[Jimbob]

The internet is always there these days, so going "on the internet" isn't a saying for me. It's mainly "check Google" or "Go on social media"

 

The phrases "going on the internet, logging on etc" are 90's/early 2000's stuff. Mostly when we had the ol 56k connections. The ones where you had to basically cut the phone off to access online services. Where it was per minute costs, instead of a fixed price.

 

It's quite frightening how many people have come to rely on smartphones, and keep looking at them over a face to face conversation. Yesterday, i saw a family get-together in my local. Everyone was looking at their phones instead of talking, and it wasn't for 5 minutes. I still prefer a face to face conversation, but i am prone to checking my phone on occasions. I do access the internet out and about, and it's readily available at home either via the PC/laptop or my phone.

 

I think i'm in the generation that can still hold conversations, but yet has the technology for instant internet access whenever, wherever. You do see many younger people using phones consistently, and i do feel the art of the conversation is lost with them.

 

On the subject though, today marks 10,000 days of the Internet.

[Guy]

I wouldn't be exaggerating to say I need the Internet for every aspect of my life. Work, entertainment, education. It has created a thousand bad habits in me but also some of my most cherished relationships, experiences and memories.

 

Google has become an acceptable first answer to 90% of questions and rather than give people my telephone number, I'll add them on Facebook instead.

 

I suppose people assume everyone is on the Internet. Because everyone pretty much is... all the time. Not having the Internet these days is akin to not having a telephone back in the day.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Guy
Because I can. It's THE INTERNET.