Digital Life Is Now A Way Of Life For Me.

Summary

The author of the article emphasizes the profound integration and benefits of digital life in enhancing one's real-world experience.

Abstract

The article reflects on the seamless integration of digital life with reality, illustrating how technology has become an indispensable tool for convenience, social connection, and emotional support, especially highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The author reminisces about pre-internet times and contrasts them with the current era where tasks like shopping, socializing, and maintaining family ties can be done effortlessly through digital means. The internet has not only made life easier but has also served as a lifeline during times of isolation, allowing for virtual presence and support when physical contact is not possible. The author argues that internet literacy should be a fundamental skill taught in schools, as it opens up opportunities for learning, employment, and community support, effectively bridging gaps caused by distance, age, and socioeconomic status.

Opinions

The author views the digital world as a complementary aspect of life that enhances daily activities and interactions.
They appreciate the convenience of online services and communication tools, which have made tasks like shopping and socializing more accessible and efficient.
The author believes the internet has been crucial during the pandemic, keeping families and friends connected despite physical distances.
They nostalgically contrast the past, where long-distance communication was rare and difficult, with the present, where virtual connections are immediate and vivid.
The author sees internet access as a means to alleviate poverty and create new opportunities for income and personal growth.
They advocate for internet literacy as a vital life skill that should be taught in schools, on par with traditional subjects.
The author values the support provided by online communities, particularly for individuals facing challenges such as illness, loss, or domestic issues, offering a source of comfort and advice at any time of day.

Digital Life Is Now A Way Of Life For Me.

Why Existing In A Virtual World Can Improve Your Real World. Enormously.

In the dim mists of time I can remember a world without the internet. Would I want to go back to a world when “life was simpler then”. Hell no. Your digital life and real life can jog along beautifully together like a horse and cart complementing each other.

I’m probably a bit of a lazy devil really. I can meet friends, go shopping for clothes, get the milk in, take part in things from the sofa whilst sipping a wine with phone or tablet in hand. What’s not to like? I don’t even have to buy a stamp anymore. Just send an ecard or email. Whizz it off, press send and it’s there. Brilliant. Job done. You can arrange to meet a friend for lunch via email and then roll up at the restaurant and she’s there and you can even reserve the table online too so you know where you are sitting before you even get in the door. No more screaming “I drove off in the car forgetting my Diary was on the roof, now it’s gone, probably in a ditch somewhere and I don’t know what I’m doing next week, let alone this afternoon”, because now it’s all digital and cross platform and Google is very hard to lose. If truth be told you can’t lose it and I don’t want to.

However, for all my utter idleness there is a serious side to this. We are living through a pandemic. All of us. I doubt there is any part of this world that hasn’t been touched by Covid-19. During this time the Internet has been an utter godsend. Apps abound, Facebook Messenger, Zoom, WhatsApp, to name but a few. It’s kept families together and in touch with each other. Although not the same as being in a physical space with them it’s been the next best thing and wonderfully it has enabled families to be with those who are ill. Your family or friends on a screen are better than the screaming silence of no-one familiar with you to cheer you on and support you when fear takes hold.

Years ago my Father’s sister emigrated to Australia. Back in those days any contact was as rare as hen’s teeth. A letter would take months to come. It was like they really had left your life forever. Almost a sort of death and quite heartbreaking at that. Lives on both sides of the world moved on separately, completely uninvolved with each other. In today’s times I can talk to my own niece in Australia and she is “virtually” sitting on the sofa with me. Well she is actually. “I’m moving away” probably doesn’t hold quite the same fears as it did years ago. Digitally, families however far apart, can remain involved in each other’s lives. That can only be a good thing. I can remember when my Aunt in Australia lost her husband, “it’s a shame she’s so far away” my Father would mutter. By then an old man himself it troubled him greatly and troubled him for the rest of his life. I regret that for my Father and his brothers the internet wasn’t about. They could have been “virtually” with their sister more often and actually seen her life from a world away.

Probably now it’s only the very elderly that are not internet savvy, having said that I have met many in their eighties and even nineties who are pretty up on it. Age is definitely no barrier to learning about and using the internet and neither should poverty be. Because the vast wealth of information, opportunities and learning on the internet can lift you out of poverty and give new opportunities. People are making money on YouTube, blogging forums, writing and doing all sorts of things to improve their lot. Writing on here has improved my lot in many ways, mentally and spiritually being just two of them. It also enables you to make friends, new friends who you might never meet but who absolutely become part of your daily existence and network.

My own daughter has long left school. Well I say long, two years, she’s eighteen. I really think that internet skills should be a proper school subject like English, Maths or Geography. It’s a life skill that will help you navigate through life and make things so much easier and open new doors and chapters in your life. Being eighteen she really knows how to make use of it and got her current employment through the web. Power to her elbow.

And then there are the online groups, so many of them, for carers, widowed folk and others with problems such as domestic violence, cancer, various illnesses and multiple worries, loneliness, debt to name but a few. In the hours of darkness worries become amplified and you can’t “phone a friend” at three in the morning whilst the owl is sitting on the fence but you can post online in a forum and pretty sure there will be someone about to listen and answer and that certain someone wherever in the world can calm a troubled mind and bring peace and constructive advice.

The Web is what it is and we are all part of it. And whatever time of day or night it remains strong and always there either shining in the sun or glistening in the moonlight.

“Life was simpler back then” Nah, not for me. Life is simpler now.

And better.