Items
topic_interest is exactly
internet
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2020
Zoom Meetings
This was a meme my friends and I shared around after Zoom became the #1 way of communicating, both in work and personal lives. It's poking fun at how awkward and stiff people usually look on camera, as well as the learning curve around using different Zoom functions. -
2020
How the Internet Saved My Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Prior to the first major COVID-19 breakout in the US, I was already doing online school. I had some health problems that led me to take my senior year of high school online; this was already a little hard, as my school had many senior year traditions that I, unfortunately, missed out on, so my general motivation was already pretty low. The main thing that really helped was being able to hang out with friends in person and talk to people using social media. I remember very vividly when COVID-19 first hit. It was sometime in March; I remember it so vividly due to a joke that my friends and I made. Senior skip day happened right when the news about the virus started to spread everywhere - my friends and I started joking about whether or not they skipped the last day of high school they would ever attend. This joke eventually came to fruition; first, it was a two-week "vacation." Then it was a month. Eventually, the rest of the year was called off, and my friends joined me in the ventures of online schooling. The beginning of quarantine was relatively easy from a mental health standpoint. We were too busy being excited over the "vacation" we were given, and all the time we had to play video games with each other. This excitement soon began to fade, however, mainly when the weather began to get warm again (I live in Massachusetts) and the seasons started to change. The feeling of being trapped inside during the only time of year truly worth being outside for is pretty suffocating. It is no surprise that my mental health started to suffer, mainly in the form of motivation issues and increased anxiety, and depression that was normally seasonal began to manifest itself in the only season it usually didn't. If not for the internet connecting my friends and me, I would have had a much harder time throughout quarantine in general. Despite my mental health being worse than usual, it was not nearly as bad as it could have been given the circumstances. The horrible statistics and lack of hope for a vaccine that clouded my thoughts when not distracted disappeared while I was in my own world talking to friends through a computer screen - escapism was my main source of comfort, and I have the internet and my friends to thank for that. Eventually, the feeling of hopelessness went away. Vaccines started to be distributed, and life returned to (slightly) normal. We got used to wearing masks in public, and avoiding crowded areas, but this was a small price to pay considering how bad it was before. -
2021-05-10
Discord Friends
I became very close to my friends at the time of second wave of covid in India. I was studying in Chicago at the time and keeping in touch with my Indian friends was difficult until covid hit. It seemed like the whole world was online, and I could not see anyone in person. I started going on discord a lot more. I and my friends played GTA 5alot and I remember distinctly recognizing that Covid had helped me get closer to them in a weird way. -
2020
WIFI Meme
I found this meme to be a funny representation of how important technology became during quarantine. People relied on it to stay connected, complete work, and go to school along with general entertainment to avoid boredom and burnout. -
2021-05-21
Cryptocurrency and the Stock Market
Crypto currency and the stock market are still trending because of stocks/crypto like Dogecoin and Bitcoin and more. People on the internet were investing in crypto and people I knew also invested in crypto. Dogecoin was so popular Elon Musk invested in it and also tweeted about it. Stocks for these currencies/stocks were making people rich super fast, people I knew that invested in stocks cashed out in the high hundred thousands, some even made millions. The stock market right now would maybe even be called a digital “gold rush”. -
2020
Present
Living during the pandemic, everyday felt like yesterday. The same things happened over and over again. It left me pondering when things will ever get back to normal. But even if things did get back to normal, these normal things will happen everyday. What makes the pandemic so different? The pandemic and COVID made me realize the many things I took for granted: seeing my friends and family, going outside for fun, going to school in-person, and much more. This is why I chose this post. Today, it is so true that the real world is an escape from the internet, especially with all of the Zoom and online learning, going outside is a pleasure. -
2020-04-30
Offline and left out: Not all Arizona students can connect for remote learning
This article focuses specifically on Arizona's efforts to provide students with internet/technology access in order to achieve online learning. It goes into detail about how several Phoenix schools dealt with the pandemic and online learning in the spring semester of 2020 as well as discusses how some students dealt with internet access issues in creative ways, either due to lack of internet or hotspot issues. Some examples are utilizing hotspots or through just going to public areas despite quarantine conditions to complete schoolwork. -
2021-01-16
To stop digital ‘redlining’ and help students, make the internet an essential utility
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 98 to help ensure that all of our children are able to successfully continue their education virtually through the Internet. Unfortunately, although this requirement on our educators came with significant funding, the California State Legislature did not couple it with any requirements for internet service providers to actually provide service. We have seen this problem manifest acutely in the many school districts around the state that are scrambling to keep students connected. California’s surge in COVID-19 cases means remote education will continue to be the safest way to continue learning for many students in the weeks and months ahead. But the need for connectivity will not end after the pandemic. If we truly want to level the playing field for students in California — to ensure all students have access to the technology and tools that not only help them access their learning remotely but will be needed for success the rest of their lives — we cannot rest until the internet flows like electricity. -
2020-11-19
The future of music festivals might be inside video games
There has been multiple online festivals hosted inside video games such as Minecraft, with Lavapalooza, or Fortnite, the infamous Travis Scott event. Many of these events proceeds have gone directly to charity regarding Covid-19 relief. These digital live music events raise the question of the viability of hosting a digital festival in a post-pandemic world. -
2020-11-17
Bandcamp Offers Artists A New Paid Livestream Platform
Bandcamp, the popular indie music streaming platform, has offered musicians a new revenue stream to replace in-person live shows. Fans can buy a ticket to access the show and purchase merchandise at the "virtual merch table". As the music industry has been turned upside down due to the end of touring and live shows, this offers another way to supplement the income of artists. -
2020-08-09T21:28+10:00
Digitally Traversing Social Distances: Zoom Trivia with Friends
This photo depicts me and my university friends catching up over Zoom and playing trivia. We played trivia multiple times over zoom, usually most Fridays, as a regular way to socialise while we were all apart during university holidays and Melbourne's second lockdown. The rules of our trivia games were as follows: every player would contribute $5, different people would volunteer to make trivia questions on whatever category they choose (including memes, dog breeds, logos etc.) and the overall winner that week would use the prize money to buy alcohol of their choice (we are students after all). We also had dress-up themes like sports and beach-wear, and bonus points would be allocated to best-dressed. These nights were the highlight of my week and gave me something to look forward to, breaking up the monotony of university assignments and lockdown. At the time this photo was taken, I had left Melbourne and was in hotel quarantine in Brisbane. This is also why zoom trivia worked well, because whilst some of my friends stayed in Melbourne, many of us moved out of the city to do lockdown with family in places like rural Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, and Queensland. Social media and video chats like Zoom functioned to connect us in new ways during the pandemic, and shows how the barriers of physical distance could be traversed via digital realms. HIST30060. -
2020-11-04
Providing Low Income Students With Free Internet In Pittsburg
It is no surprise that low income students are struggling during the period of online or distance learning. In order to aid low income students and families, Pittsburg is offering an estimate of 700-800 families with internet that would have otherwise gone without. The schools in the district it affects feel that it will make a great impact for those who either have no internet or unstable internet services. Families that qualify for this service will pay no fees, and will help the some 20% of families with lack of or poor internet service. -
2020-10-28
The Virus Strikes Back
Internet Historian made a followup video compiling together stories and news articles about incidents that occurred during and/or because of the pandemic. -
2020-10-23
9 Year Old Boy Walks To School For Wifi
A 9 year old boy has to walk to school to use the wifi to attend his online classes. -
2020-05-31
Internet Upgrade Occurs Just as COVID-19 Fears of Contact with Others and Staying at Home Heightens
The sign depicts advertising to encourage people to sign up for Pioneer Telephone's Fiber Internet in Blanchard, Oklahoma. As a rural community, we had been waiting for fiber access for quite awhile. We are close enough to the Oklahoma City area to see the capability grow, but were too far away to benefit until recently. The local company Pioneer promoted the coming of the internet upgrade for the past year. I had already signed a contract to receive this upgrade in October of 2019, but by chance my neighborhood's service was ready until March 2nd just as COVID-19 concerns were starting to become more widespread. On March 25th state-wide restrictions put in place by Governor Stitt's executive order closed non-essential businesses, limited public gatherings to no more than 10 people, and enacted the "safer at home" protocol for those over 65 or with underlying medical conditions. During this time period I had restricted my exposure to just a few of my closest family in order to protect the older members. Pioneer called the last week of March to set a date, just as the biggest restrictions were occurring. I decided to move forward not realizing how the idea of a person entering my house would change my thoughts just a week later. The utility companies often send people to do work orders, which had never bothered me in the past. When Pioneer arrived on April 3rd to install the upgrade, I began to realize that this would feel very different. For the past month, we had postponed family nights, group dinners, and outings. During that time, we wouldn't dare answer the door for a sales person or go to grocery stores without a mask. The entire month was mostly just Kelly and I in my home with few outs beyond my work or my grandmother's house. The process was somewhat stressful because of how much the COVID-19 situation had changed since signing up for the service. When the man arrived, I noticed he was cautious about how he entered and the social distancing he kept from us. He did much of the organizing of his equipment in my driveway from his pickup. He was a contract worker for Pioneer and his helper was a young man of about eighteen. The two came inside, with the young man doing most of his work from my attic. This was the first time someone other than a few close family members had entered my house since the executive order. His distancing and professionalism helped alleviate many of the concerns. Once he left we used sanitizer wipes to clean door handles, just to be safe. The time he was in my house was cordial and friendly, but it was far from the normal way rural people would act in circumstances like this in the past. There were no handshakes which would've been a standard practice for many people in these encounters. This situation depicts the feelings of uncertainty and the changing of routine habits that occurred during COVID-19. Many of these changes were gradual, subconscious and only visible once we reflected upon them. Personal story submitted for the #ruralvoices collection. Contributed by Clinton P. Roberts, curatorial intern for Arizona State University, HST 580. #HST580 #ASU -
2020-05-22
Bots
I’ve been struggling to understand the motivations and views of pandemic skeptics. I found this article interesting and provocative. I’m wondering if the echo chamber of misinformation that is social media is being aided and abetted by trolls with bots. I speculate these are the same folks who supported Trump in the last election but there does not appear to be clear evidence to support that.