The New Normal of the Internet
Staying human in a digital landscape that has evolved from an information network into a culture of consumption.
When we think back to the early days of the internet, it's clear that it wasn't a structured, polished environment that catered to every need as it does today. We did not know how to use it, nor what role it would play in our personal lives. Visiting a website to see what we might find, chatting with strangers on a forum, or experiencing a form of communication that we had previously only seen in films, was a source of wonder in itself. Exploring the possibilities offered by the internet was as much a part of the experience as the possibilities themselves.
Over time, the internet has evolved from a place where we simply searched for information, to a space where we can share aspects of our personalities. Some created their own personal websites, while others chatted with the same people on forums for years, forming friendships in chat rooms and expressing themselves in just a few words. However, our online identity was often limited to what we chose to reveal about ourselves. Our true identities could remain unclear, and it was this anonymity that formed the basis of the relationships we built with others. This ambiguity was intriguing and valuable in itself. Moreover, by embracing this concept, we were able to connect with people who shared our interests and whom we would otherwise have found difficult to meet in real life. Thus, the internet ceased to be merely an opportunity provided by others and became a space that we were shaping together. It was a social space, as if a digital third place.
At first, this environment felt unfamiliar, and we didn’t know what to expect. Gradually, however, it transformed into a familiar forest. Websites became more colourful, personal pages were embellished, and profile pictures and usernames became part of our digital identity. Our bewilderment at encountering new technology gradually gave way to familiarity. Video calls, animated images and customisable pages ceased to surprise us, and we began to feel strange when they were absent. We stopped seeing the internet merely as a world we visited. We grew accustomed to it, embraced it and started to organise it as if it were our own home.
Taking ownership of a home can spark a desire to show it off to others. A similar thing happened on the internet. We created our own pages, shared things that interested us, and visited other people’s pages. Over time, we started inviting more and more people into our world. However, there is a difference between occasionally opening the door and constantly displaying the inside of the house. Social media has blurred this distinction, though. Images of our daily lives, thoughts, habits and preferences have become shareable. The decision of how much of our private lives to reveal to the outside world has become habitual and unquestioned. The visibility of identities and the disappearance of that sense of inaccessibility has also begun to shatter the spell. In other words, becoming accustomed to our home made it harder for us to notice how it had changed over time.
There is also a corporate dimension to this. Although commercial activities have existed since the early days of the internet, commercial logic has only begun to shape and dominate an ever-larger part of the internet experience as large platforms and advertising-driven models have become more widespread. It is no longer just about sharing things or connecting with people. The design of this environment started to be influenced by which content would reach the largest audience, how long people would spend viewing it, and which products they would show an interest in. The playful atmosphere of the space suffered, and people became mere customers. Analysing people's interests and reactions, and how long they stayed on screen, also became part of this commercial order, imbuing it with unnecessary seriousness. In other words, shops had sprung up on the very streets we once roamed purely out of curiosity. Furthermore, these shops not only expected us to buy something, but also sought to dictate what we should look at and where we should go next.
Conversely, this change was not limited to how capitalism uses the internet. Commercial logic has also become embedded in the behaviour and lives of individual users. Although it has become possible for everyone to produce content, present themselves and reach an audience, over time, visibility has become an end in itself. Even when recounting their own lives, people have started to behave like brands, curating their posts as though they were product launches and presenting their personalities as attention-grabbing spectacles. The distinction between enjoying something and marketing it to others has also become blurred. While some have adapted to the situation and found it useful, others have found it repulsive. Nevertheless, personal spaces on the internet have become garish showcases where people display themselves in various ways and try to attract attention. This aspect of the internet and humanity continues to evolve, establishing its own distorted culture characterised by artificial personas, provocative content, aggressive attention-seeking, and unethical marketing methods.
When we enter a library, we are usually looking for something specific. While what we find there may lead us to another book, it is curiosity that initially brings us to the library. In the early days of the internet, we used it to acquire knowledge, bouncing from one article to another and fuelling our desire to learn as we did so. Nowadays, however, when we access any platform with a specific purpose in mind, we often find ourselves amidst content that we weren't looking for. More often than not, this happens unintentionally. As we jump from one unrelated video to another, or from a post to an advert, we can lose sight of what we were originally looking for. Furthermore, the fact that something catches our attention does not mean that it is important to us. It may not seem that way at first, but I believe that the more decisions we make that aren’t our own, the more difficult it becomes to exercise our personal free will. We're like children being raised in this new digital world. We can only recognise, accept or share what we are given. Our everyday conversations revolve around other people’s videos.
This is not a smear piece. The internet is still a place where we can access information, meet new people and establish our own spaces. This will continue to be the case in one form or another. However, alongside these possibilities, there is also a system that directs our attention towards the next product or piece of content. We must be aware of this.
There's a difference between the internet being open to everyone and everyone using it in the same way. Thankfully, independent websites, small communities, personal spaces, open archives and individuals who share information without commercial intent still exist today. Therefore, we cannot say that the library has disappeared entirely. The challenge lies in learning to seek out the library once more in a world of ever-multiplying shops. We can use the internet not just to consume whatever comes our way, but also to pursue our own curiosity. The future of the internet does not depend solely on the decisions of those who run it. The way we use it, the areas we support, and the way we relate to one another are also part of this story.
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