It’s hard to explain internet culture to someone who hasn’t experienced it. Trying to explain the entire premise of memes to our parents’ generation is such a common experience that it becomes a meme in itself. Even the word “meme” is outdated. Merriam-Webster defines a meme as “a funny or amusing item (such as a captioned picture or video) or type of item that is spread widely online, especially through social media,” but at this point in culture Only half of the content we consume online can be classified this way. Yes, we focus on the things that make us laugh, but we also focus on the things that make us feel sad, affirming, hopeful, overwhelmed, connected, or angry.Now, not only can we hand-deliver humor over the Internet; any emotion.
Of course, explaining the plight of online culture to the outside world is quickly becoming irrelevant as each generation becomes more and more immersed in the online world. When I was in elementary school, the iPad had just been released, but now some elementary school students can rent iPads individually through the school to do homework. I was forced to listen to (even at the time, outdated) lectures on cybersecurity in middle school—middle school students are now encouraged to become YouTubers as a “side hustle.”
Even as I write this, I know I might sound like a “baby boomer”—a term once used neutrally to describe a generation and now used colloquially to simply refer to anyone old enough to be out of touch with society people. It’s not cool to question the online realm that most of us live in. Don’t get me wrong, I spend hours every day scrolling through recycled TikToks on Instagram Reels, but sometimes I find myself looking around and wondering how we all got here, and even more worrying question: what happens next ?
A few years ago, the Internet began to discuss the concept of “iPad babies,” the idea that children can only be calmed down by holding a glowing iPad in front of them. Our generation is now old enough to realize the fact that; perhaps Having unlimited access to the internet when we’re young isn’t the best thing for us – watching grown men talk about conspiracy theories or play video games isn’t exactly what a 12-year-old should be watching. Our generation is now starting to worry about the children of the future; if we think our brains are changing from being constantly online, what will happen to the impressionable young children who have learned how to scroll through YouTube clips?