Learning the Internet

The internet is becoming a more acceptable form of communication for many in the baby boom generation.  These less than tech savvy surfers are trying to negotiate their way through forums, chat room, websites, and blogs.  With the expansion of Web 2.0, the field is becoming even more dangerous.  Many of the new users end up abusing their own sites, often without ever coming to realize it.

Recently, my SIL set up a website so that friends and family from around the world would be able to get updated information about her small children and about my brother (who has recently started back to med school).  The interesting thing was listening to my parents discuss how her site worked.  My dad insisted it was a blog.  My mother insisted it wasn’t.  Neither of them would really know a blog if it bit them in the rear end. 

It’s easy to get lost in all the technical jargon that comes with the internet territory.  Instead of avoiding the technology or finding out too late that you are using it all wrong, just take your time.  There are classes at almost all community colleges or universities that will walk you through the basics of the internet.  Once you get the basics down, you’ll find that there are online classes available to help you expand your world.