Right, so this may be a bit off topic for the actual purpose of the website, but it’s something I felt like talking about. What’s the internet to me? It’s not something i usually ask myself, but it’s something I certainly want to answer and document. To me, the internet is a valuable and dangerous tool, like a double-edged sword. We can gain vast amounts of information and communicate with people all around the world. It’s a pretty amazing thing, right? Well, like most things, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. I know I don’t need to explain myself too much, since we’ve all experienced some type of headache from the internet at some point, but sometimes its much more than that. Just like we can see all types of information from all sorts of people and places, these can also have access to OUR information as well. Details that we don’t want made public or even our account details that are a violation of our privacy and rights. But I don’t want to talk about that too much. I want to talk about what the internet means to me.

[Source: http://mrmng93.tumblr.com/post/111178627214 ]

I live in Puerto Rico, always have. When hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, it leveled our communications for months. Families didn’t know what happened to their loved ones until days and even weeks later since the hurricane. We were disconnected from the world and each other. This meant that I couldn’t talk with my friends that lived in other countries for a really long amount of time. It was something that really affected me on an emotional and psychological level. The most valuable source of support I had were my friends. when i finally did get to talk to them, most thought i was dead, and asked me if i needed supplies or even money to take care of things. One of them even asked me if I wanted them to come down all the way from the UK to help me and my family in cleaning and rebuilding my house. It was a hard time for all puertoricans. This made me value my relationship with my friends further and allowed my love for the internet to grow. The internet not only helps me learn and see new things, but it’s also a source of emotional support for me.

Sunset in Puerto Rico

[Author: Trish Hartmann]

 

To end this post, I just want to show you this song by my favorite artist, Residente. I hope you like it as much as I’ve come to like it.

[Author: Residente]