HOFFMAN: Lack of Internet access prompts lifelong journey to catch up on memes
If my parents instilled anything in me as a kid, it was to be an active person.
I was a swimmer, played Lacrosse and was outside all the time with friends doing whatever it was we did.
Then 2003 came. That was the year my dad finally got Internet access for our house, when I was already 17.
At that point, I had friends talking about this thing called AOL Instant Messenger, "screen names," videos they found on the Internet (way before YouTube ever existed) and other things that might not be appropriate for print.
I wanted to have the Internet more than anything at the time — more than I wanted to kiss a girl, more than I wanted to finish first in the 100-meter backstroke, more than I wanted my paycheck from the bagel shop I worked at. I wanted to plug in.
And when I did, oh boy, it was awesome. I entered a digital world I had only heard about. It was like a fantasy land out of a fairy tale. Up until then, my only real experiences with the Internet were school-sanctioned or homework-related activities at my mom's house.
But I had to play catch up. I missed all the "cool" things my friends talked about. I remember signing up for my first AIM account (vlgrdisplayofmike) and feeling super badass. I thought it was so cool I could hang out with my friends even though we were in different locations. Some friends were hundreds of miles away.
From that point on I have yet to disconnect, but I'm still playing catch up.
I didn't use the Internet, aside from chatting with friends, the way many of my friends did. I didn't download videos from LimeWire or Kazaa. I didn't nab any songs from Napster, and it wasn't because I was a huge Metallica fan. I read the news and researched history topics I was interested in.
Today's Vibe topic is "Internet memes" and, even now, if it wasn't for Twitter or Facebook, I would not know anything about most of them. Rebecca Black would not even ring a bell if not for a friend's tweet. I didn't know what "Double Rainbow" was until last October.
The only meme I have been up to date with in the past few years is Charlie Sheen and his #winning exploits, tiger blood and Adonis DNA. And that, again, is only because of social media.
I am OK with not being hip with the latest trends online. I wish I was a tad more Internet savvy, but then I'd waste more time online than I do already.
That's all for now: I'm hungry, and the hour is right for "Epic Meal Time"
