Chapter 5

Reading module 5 made me think about how the internet has evolved. When I was younger, the internet was more so a source of information. As a kid I would look up how to beat a hard boss fight in a video game. I’d basically have to scroll through a block of text on a glorified notepad file. Now, you can upload a recording of you playing the game and you can even make a podcast about it.

Push and pull communication sounded loosely familiar to me. The push side of instant messaging, social networks, and photo/video sharing is something I use a lot. As for pulling, I don’t subscribe to any mailing lists or newsgroups (intentionally), but I listen to some podcasts. For me, it seems like a lot of websites are pushing and pulling information at the same time these days. The terms “new” internet and Web 2.0 are foreign to me, but I do remember a shift from more stoic forum posts to online social networks. It’s crazy to me you had to install a software program just to read the news.

News aggregators are hard to avoid. My phone has one built in that pulls information from websites I visit. Imagine telling someone 20 years ago that your telephone would display the score of the Dolphins and Broncos game. Maybe the word “news” is a little loose in this example, but I use reddit to cherry pick news stories I’m interested in. Podcasts are something I listen to almost exclusively while driving. I frequently drive long distances and podcasts make the trip feel significantly faster.

The start of sharing API’s (web services) is interesting to me. It’s interesting that websites like Amazon saw the mutually beneficial aspects of web services. The cynic in me would assume that they would do everything they could to keep their content under one umbrella.

I actually remember IRC, although I never knew what it stood for. There was a popular massively multiplayer video game I played in 2005 that used it to communicate with thousands of people at once. Around that same time, I’d use MSN messenger to talk to my friends. I begrudgingly still use messengers like Facebook messenger, but I much prefer texting or a phone call with my friends. I’m familiar with VoIP. Every 5 years or so I seem to move on to a new one. I started with Ventrilo, then Skype, and now Discord.

Maybe my favorite part of the internet is sharing pictures and videos. My friends and I constantly share pictures (memes, more specifically) and videos with each other. The more practical side of sharing a picture of a program you’re using to diagnose a problem is invaluable. I’ve never been much of a blogger, but I can see why a small community would be endearing.

Online reputation management is something I’ve put thought into. While I don’t use social media, I have distant family members and acquaintances that post things I don’t particularly want to be associated with.