Internet Explorers

Right now, you’re reading this on a computer. Maybe a phone. These things are easy to take for granted — they feel like they’ve been here forever. 10 to 15 years ago, though, our generation was collectively asking for computer privileges on a weeknight. Afterward, in a dim glow, we had our first childhood experiences that existed completely outside of parental supervision. In hindsight, being left alone on the internet as a kid inspires the same gut-level flood of panic as leaving a child alone outside — but back then, things were different. Left in the capitalistic child-designated safe zones, we experienced the world through a distorted lens.

Now, we’ve collected the memories of the early internet and all its messy, complicated implications for you to read. The games we were fascinated with, the spaces we met friends in, the risks of radicalization and the ways the internet all comes back to us.

Senior Arts Editor Holly Tsch can be reached at htsch@umich.edu.