The Internet Generation Fails

Honestly, when a professor gives you an assignment to “research anything you want to” for your first grade in the class, I am usually beyond excited. The Internet is full of so much information! I would learn anything and everything there is to know about whatever my little heart desires. Oh, how little did I know that tricky professor is actually trying to get me to learn something about the fact that he knows more about the Internet than me at age 40! How can that be!? I, a product of the complex computer and Internet generation, have been outsmarted at our own game.

After some consideration, I have decided the thing I need to research is my roommates. I want to discover what I could find about them on the Internet and if this information is actually relevant in any way. So I unfriend and unfollow them on each social network, and let the stalking begin.

After hours and hours of researching, I uncover what athletics and clubs my roommates were in during high school. I learn about the towns they grew up in, and if they were involved in anything that could make the paper. Facebook tells me some of their “likes” including “waking up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy” and “Why Learn Algebra? Finding X is only useful if you’re a pirate!”. 

I discovered a few Pinterest accounts, which include a further look into each person’s more style and hobbies. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Photobucket and Google images allow me to actually see what they look like: either blonde hair blues eyes or brown eyes with brunette hair. I also found their height and ages. Safe to say, if I hadn’t known them before I could pick them out of a line up now.

This is an overwhelming amount of information. But in all reality, how relevant is any of this to looking for a roommate? I don’t really need to know every event they placed in throughout their high school athletic career or if they attended a school board meeting in 2012. In addition, the facts I obtain from Facebook could be entirely fabricated.

While this information is entertaining, it’s not essential. These facts don’t tell me that one my roommates got caught stealing from the University Bookstore, or that another got a Minor In Possession charge last fall. Or that one lost their mom at a young age, another lost their sister and another lost a cousin due a shooting. Just like when searching other people, you tend to only get a taste of the information you need or essential to their life. 

We, as the Internet generation, should be aware of these gaps and become less reliant on a search engine. Or, at least, try to figure out its loopholes. So then the next time my professor tries to outsmart me in regards of the Internet, maybe I’ll be a bit more prepared for it.