week 6: an online post about posting online

 

As a millennial, or maybe more appropriately post-millennial/Gen Z, I haven’t really identified with the characteristic of making my thoughts shared online for the public to view. I believe this stems from many factors and variables thrown at me as I left the kiddie pool to swim in the ocean of social media apps and the simplicity of uploading my mind’s thoughts onto a rectangular glowing screen. Some of those factors were my sensitivity to people’s negative reactions to those few posts I have made, others would be from those advertisements and short films threatening the dangers and consequences of online posting and how “once it’s on the internet, it’s always on the internet.” However, the biggest factor that discouraged me from posting online was definitely because of my parents. I’m one of those kids who grew up in quite a sheltered household where I was allowed only one hour of computer fun a day, must only visit sites my parents have thoroughly looked through and approved of, also, could only have an MSN account when I was 10 and then Facebook when I was 13. Even now that I’m 18 and things have evolved, I’m still not allowed to have a desk in my room because my parents feel the need to watch over my studies and the movies I stream online. I would be lying if I said that I was totally fine with this growing up, in fact I became rather skilled at erasing my history, changing boys’ names to girls’ on my messaging apps, changing to another tab in the blink of an eye… I essentially became a first class liar at hiding things from my parents. Eventually as I got older, they loosened up the ropes and I am mostly free to do what I want on the internet. But, now that I have the freedom with them as I have the freedom to post what I want online, I don’t feel the need to do so. I enjoy my privacy and thoughts, and only feel like posting things that I think matter for others to read, not just for my selfish desire to “get something off my chest”. Yes, my parents were a little smothering in my childhood, but it feels (kind of) worth it now that I am off the leash and have learned to treasure the privileges of privacy.