At a perfectly prime age (read young) and with an adequate dosage of educational qualifications behind me, I reinvented myself to adapt to the World Wide Web. The Web, at that time, was pretty much a repository where I could refer to subjects of interest and gather information in line with various requirements. I am, expectantly, initially apprehensive. I fiddle, stumble, find things I didn’t need, don’t understand things that I find. Sometimes, I don’t even know how to find the right things. Search emerges and I say, “OK. Now, here’s something that can help me locate what I really am looking for.”
What really was I looking for? Some charts, some data, some reference material, and at times some reports and analyses. So, I would not have to put in any effort for my dissertation or project. Most of the times, I found what I was looking for. And soon, the first response when looking for something was”––“let me check out the Web”. Library started to become redundant.
Days passed. I graduated, and the Web evolved. I thought we had become quite intimately connected by then. E-mail had really become my lifeline. I could connect to friends and family instantly. I could send short messages, long e-mails, reach out in an instant, pour my emotions “then and there”. The letter died, long live the snail mail.
Then came chat. I was pretty much glued on to the Web by now. I could search, locate, look up, communicate, reach out, and now even talk – without the voice. This was even more incredible than I ever thought possible. No voice, no tone, no problem. I thought–‘hmm’ and’‘J’ conveyed a lot of emotions. I could even change the chat background colour to suit my mood – this was just so cool. The Web seemed to have overtaken everything else. The telephone seemed to be losing its sheen.
And before I thought this was the best I could get from the Web, Google happened. I thought this was the Web reinventing itself for me. Better search, better chat, better mail, and faster everything. I would not have to wait any longer – I could just click and whoosh. I could fly. And what was I looking for now – data, charts, information that could help me create strategies to evolve and grow my business – sometimes even readymade strategies adopted by other companies to be successful. Everything was doable in this WWW era. And I was king.
How did it change me? Well. Kings demand, and I did so. Kings get responses in no time – and even I did. Kings order and so did I. And kings didn’t have the time. I was too busy looking for something or the other on the Web that time became a non-existent parameter. Meeting people was not needed anymore. I could socialize on the Web. I could send letters, make friends, meet people, share pictures, share experiences, find a job, rent a house, do my shopping, express my point of view, study a new subject, research on an upcoming trend, ask for advice, give advice, send a birthday card, buy a mother’s day present, send a birthday cake, attend a conference… what did I need the real world for?
So, well. The Web has come to mean to me exactly what it stands for – WEB. It’s a mesh of invisible tangled wires and connections that have completely consumed me. I am but a miniscule entity in this Web – overwhelmed by its impact, overawed by its reach, overpowered by its control over me and my sensibilities. And the WWW has consumed me – I am but a pale shadow of the social animal I set out to be. The Web is king, and I, a mere identity in its big, wide world.
