Bryan vs the Internet

1997. I was 10 years old. I remember sitting in front of my parents computer and hearing the harsh sound of a modem as I logged on to AOL.

“You’ve Got Mail.” It was junk mail… but that didn’t matter. It was E-mail.

I’m pretty stoked to be born in the generation to see the evolution of this beast. And what a beast it is. It has transformed the world of marketing and business. It made communication  and collaboration free. It’s created hundreds of thousands of jobs worldwide. And we love it.

In the popular contest created by Big Spaceship to determine the “Most Awesomest Thing Ever,” once the dust settled, “the internet” was ranked the number one most awesomest thing. It has sat at number 1 for over six months. Currently, it is considered 6 rankings more awesome than “the universe,” 11 rankings more awesome than “money,” and 16 rankings more awesome than “electricity.” Imagine if 20 years ago, someone told you that there would soon be an invention that would be considered by this generation to be more awesome than money, electricity, or even the universe. Would you even believe it? Can you fathom such a thing?

It has come so far already, but we still have a long way to go. Jeff Bezos, CEO of amazon, believes that the internet is still in the most rudimentary form (for a fascinating look at this perspective, check out his talk at the TED.com). We are still in the early days.

You’ve gotta admit that there is a lot of garbage on the internet. And not just harmless mindless drivel. I’m talking filth. The kind of crap that ruins peoples lives. For all the good we find on the internet, it still remains as medium of choice for hatred, mudslinging, and violation of privacy. Theft of intellectual property, pornography, online gambling, and a host of other addictive vices that pull people in, empty wallets and destroy their relationships.

Internet addictions can rob us of our valuable, priceless time… they can mute the experiences of life and shelter us in a false reality. In the words of a popular Switchfoot song: “We’ve got information in the information age, but do we know what life is, outside of our convenient Lexus cages?”

So here I stand, my first blog post ever… my first opportunity to add my content to the web we have grown to love and hate. And I’m going to do something bold.

I am declaring war on the internet.

How? My goal is to promote a different type of internet content. The kind that stretches your perspective. I see it as a catalyst. It moves you. It raises your expectations regarding what we can accomplish. It is creativity, ambition, respect, and humility. It is the use of technology for innovation, not gluttony. It is a holy war. I may have a small influence now, but I am choosing to use it. I am going to be deliberate in my contribution to the internet. And to all of you who are reading this post, I encourage you to do the same. We have the chance to enhance the web. Join me, and lets make our corner of the internet an insightful place.

Who knows? It might just catch on.