What Does The Internet Mean To You? We(b) Love
Here at Urban Times, we are all about love for the Internet. It’s the foundation for our dreams. So, we want to do something to celebrate and tribute this love. We are setting up a wall dedicated to our love for the internet; Web Love. All you have to do to be involved is to use the hashtag #weblove and your words can be shared and compared, so that everyone finally understands what those millions of voices are protecting.
Here’s a loaded question for you to start this moment with: What does the Internet mean to you? It’s loaded because everyone has their own idea about the Internet. It’s a personal journey for each one of us, because no two people will every follow the same path to a point on the Internet. That’s almost guaranteed because the content changes so rapidly.
Watch this short clip put together by Ketchum for their Respect the Internet event where they’re exploring the interactions of marketing and the Internet. It’s a perspective that shows we can all agree on a similar vision, even if we have different intents as users:
The Internet is a mythical medium that allows us to build the world as we want it to be. Of course, there will be bad stuff, but we’ve already shown that people will challenge the bad stuff until it becomes a learning experience for us all. These actions are all part of the myth that is our Internet, yet those who don’t participate won’t understand. The Internet is not a physical construct only made up of a network of computers. It’s so much more than that. From the user’s perspective, the Internet is a crucial answer for a much better future than any of us could hope for:
- The Internet contains everything that you love, and everything that you might not love so much, but it’s up to you to find what you want.
- The Internet is a place where you can talk, and know that someone will hear you, even if agreement isn’t always apparent.
- The Internet is a place where freedom is guaranteed, unlike in our lives out in the physical world. But that can change if we take the freedom from granted and don’t nurture it.
- The Internet provides the same starting point for every user. What the user develops from their interaction with the Internet is the foundation for true learning.
- The Internet has become a venue that allows all people to create the lives that they want to lead. It’s a place where money or power doesn’t reign supreme.
We(b) Love. Source: Neal on flickr.com
Here’s a key word that keeps summing up the Internet experience: SOCIAL. The people that we talk to aren’t connected to just a single person. We all crisscross in and out of various groups, topics, interests, and other ways that help build us into the unique person that gained the interest of others who then share forward. There’s huge opportunity in this sharing of similar and divergent interests, because that’s how connections are made which can eventually develop into social innovations that just might change the world for the better.
No one can deny that the Internet is not something special in this disposable world of ours. Millions of people all around this world have stood up physically and digitally so that they can be acknowledged as not only Internet participants, but Internet protectors. They are saying that it isn’t some land mass to be conquered, with some flag planting ceremony indicating territoriality. The Internet is a domain where there are no territories, no boundaries, and no limitations. This messy digital domain personifies the best and worst that humanity has to offer, and it’s the incubator to our collective future. The threat isn’t from the freedom we enjoy in this wonderful place. The threat is what will happen if we allow this freedom to disappear. There is no country in this world that can stand up to the potential offered by the Internet, because the Internet was made by participants from around the globe. That’s the power of the Internet that should be respected by everyone, but especially by those who want to control it.
Check back in to see what this develops into… But in the meantime, leave us your thoughts about what the Internet means to you by tweeting to #weblove.
If you do not have Twitter, please give us your Web Love reason in the comment section below!
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