It's often said that the internet has changed
the way we communicate. It's true, but there's more to it than that. The online
world has changed how we learn and how we educate others. Obviously it's made
information a lot more widely accessible—although not all the content can be
trusted. Pre-internet, it took more effort to find articles and studies. You'd
have to take classes, go to the library, and do other things that would require
leaving your home and sometimes spending money. That was a barrier for some who
might have otherwise been able or willing to learn. Still, I wonder if the easy
access we now have can become a deterrent as well. We know that this wealth of
knowledge is only a search and click away, so we let the bookmarks pile up with
the assurance that we'll read everything later because we can.
It changes the way we relay knowledge, too. If
we want to prove a point or pass along a story, we share links. There's no
requirement to first digest it ourselves and then explain it in our own words.
We don't have to memorize facts; they're available to go back and reference.
This can make it more challenging to talk to people face to face without the
internet at hand, because it's frustrating to want to show them exactly what
you're talking about but not have the source available.
