So my mother called me yesterday, randomly and out of the blue, like she sometimes does on her way home from work. I put the book down that I was in the middle of and answered her call on the second ring.
"Hi, mom. What's up?" I asked.
"Hi, honey. So I was thinking." Oh no, I thought.
"Yes," I answered hesitantly.
"You should write a book," she said matter of factly.
As it turns out, my mother had seen some of my social media posts over the last few months and had apparently come to the conclusion that I should write a book about the world from the perspective of the Millennials, more specifically, the Internet Pioneers.
Now, contain your inward groaning for a second. I know what you're thinking. Ugh, another blog by some whiney 20-something about how she thinks the world should work. And after you had that thought, you probably finished it with, Internet Pioneer? What the hell is an Internet Pioneer.
So. To handle the first issue. No. I am not just another whiney 20-something. Or at least that's not my aim here, so hold up on the judgement for a hot second. As for the second thought, the Internet Pioneer thought, let me explain.
According to some high brow academics, Jack Myers and his book Hooked Up specifically, the Internet Pioneers are the subsection of the Millennials who were born between 1991 and 1995. We grew up after the first Internet browser, Mosaic, was introduced in 1993. In short, we've never lived in a world unplugged. One without the Internet.
This mobile connectivity has always been a part of our life and we don't know (or want to know for that matter) a world without it. Before some of my peers jump all over me about how they are different and would love a world unplugged, I ask those of you who would say that a question or five).
When was the last time you pulled up an Internet browsers to search for something? Or perhaps used your smartphone to find someplace to eat or to call an Uber or to Instagram? Maybe just yesterday? Just an hour ago? Are you reading this with the help of the Internet now?
Yeah...so...let me complete my thought here.
Apparently, this, the connection to the Internet) has influenced our generation more than we know. We are a generation effected by a technological advancement that became so deeply engrained into our lives that our brains and thought processes have been fundamentally changed by them.
And what's more: we are a bridge generation.
We serve as a connection between our parents and the generation right before us and the other Millennials born after us.
We live between these two worlds and this has monumentally impacted our lives and how we want to live them.
Social scientists and society as a whole have been targeting the Millennial generation for a variety of reasons over the last few years; once we started to grow up and speak out, the world saw that we were a force to be reckoned with.
The world has watched as we have pushed for small incremental changes in the way the world works and was amazed to see that it effected real change.
In the last ten years we've seen the resurgence of the rustbelt cities, the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the rise of corporate responsibility, the restructuring of corporate environments, the proliferation of new technology into every aspect of our daily lives, a healthcare system that eliminates the need for the level of care being determined by personal wealth, the "support local" movements, racial biases being addressed, marriage equality being declared a fundamental right and so much more.
But. There's a problem. I've noticed something over the last few years. Instead of speaking for ourselves as the people really pushing the changes, we (the Internet Pioneers) are allowing others to speak for us. We let population metrics, politicians, social scientists, professors, television personalities, and celebrities speak for us. They dictate what we are doing and explain why. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to be spoken for.
So that's why I'm starting this. An examination of one Internet Pioneer's views on life, society, and an inside look into why I think the way I do as a member of this subsection of Millennials.
Okay, so it's a blog and not a book (Sorry, Mom), but what kind of Internet Pioneer would I be if I didn't embrace the Internet?
So I guess here we go.
