Virtual Self

Anyone that says computers have not changed our society is absurd. We do everything on the computer; we write letters through email, share stories and photographs, make new friends, and even tell the whole world what we’re doing at all times of the day. Computers have become an integral part of our lives and without them there is no way I would be the person I am today.

The Internet has shaped my personality is multiple ways. It has allowed me to venture to far off lands through pictures and stories that are shown in real time. At any point during the day, a web user can view a live feed of any major world city. Social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook have helped me connect with people across the globe; I now have friends in the United Kingdom and Canada and this contact has only increased my love of travel and exploration. Likewise, connection to vast amounts of information has even allowed me to choose the University of Tampa as my college. Without it, I would have ended up at a giant school such as University of Florida. Computer-based art is my media, so without computers, a digital designer like myself would not have an outlet to create and share works with anyone.

This “virtual self” created by the increased social networking of the Internet is changing human experience for the better. It is allowing people to over their perspective of the world and experience new things all from their office chair. I believe that without the connection to other people around the world and access to the vast information available on the Internet that the current generations would not be cultured or open to cultural variation at all.