Monday, August 30, 2004
My Digital Sexual Education
I was a product of the digital information revolution. At an early age, I had great access to computer technology and a lot of friends who were proficient in the technology of the day. I remember when everybody had a BBS system and it was so amazing to be able to dial up to one of the boards and play the word adventures games. It was all so amazing to me.
Then, came the trio of AOL, Compuserve and Prodigy. My hometown was actually pretty advanced when it comes to connectivity technology, so everybody was on the service in the area. Initially, I joined Compuserve and loved it. It offered all the basics, and more importantly, it also had a great and extensive movie media section. One day, I was surfing randomly when I stumbled upon a personals section. It was a treasure trove of just pictures of random guys. I never worked up the courage to chat with anyone online because there were always these news stories about young kids being picked up by strangers on the internet. I was afraid that I would succumb to such a trap.
Mostly, the pictures were older men, in their later 20s and early 30s. It was an awakening to say the least.
Out of pure boredom, I persuaded my family to switch up the online service, changing to AOL and then prodigy. Of course, those two other services had great online entertainment content, but it didn't seem to have a burgeouning personals section. I had no other media outlet that allowed me to explore my new feelings, so in the end, I returned back to Compuserve. For nearly 4 or 5 years, Compuserve served as a sexual education that would not be taught in my school's sex ed class. ¶ 11:15 AM
Then, came the trio of AOL, Compuserve and Prodigy. My hometown was actually pretty advanced when it comes to connectivity technology, so everybody was on the service in the area. Initially, I joined Compuserve and loved it. It offered all the basics, and more importantly, it also had a great and extensive movie media section. One day, I was surfing randomly when I stumbled upon a personals section. It was a treasure trove of just pictures of random guys. I never worked up the courage to chat with anyone online because there were always these news stories about young kids being picked up by strangers on the internet. I was afraid that I would succumb to such a trap.
Mostly, the pictures were older men, in their later 20s and early 30s. It was an awakening to say the least.
Out of pure boredom, I persuaded my family to switch up the online service, changing to AOL and then prodigy. Of course, those two other services had great online entertainment content, but it didn't seem to have a burgeouning personals section. I had no other media outlet that allowed me to explore my new feelings, so in the end, I returned back to Compuserve. For nearly 4 or 5 years, Compuserve served as a sexual education that would not be taught in my school's sex ed class. ¶ 11:15 AM
Comments:
<< Home
Your writing fascinates me. It's very direct, and it burns hard. I like your style very much. What you write too is also very good and engaging. I am doing a talk in a few weeks that willl be dealing heavily on the Internet's impact on this generation, and what you mentioned about message boards reminds me that I need to write about how relationships and communication have changed because of the Internet. Thanks.
Thanks for the comments. It's good to hear that you find my writing honest and direct. That's part of the reason why I started doing this blog in the first place, to slowly open myself up more to the world, first privately and then, hopefully, publicly.
Post a Comment
<< Home
