Before the internet...

[mitchell271]

I have an end of semester project coming up for my sociology class. My topic is "How the Internet Affected Society". So, if everyone could answer a few questions, that would be fantastic. Oh, and please don't turn this into a discussion thread. I'm trying to collect some data and I don't need any trolls.

What did you do before the internet for:
1. Research?
2. Communication?
3. Leisure?

Do you still do these things?

Has it changed your attention span? How so?

What difference is there between you online persona and you?

Has the internet made you more confident?

EDIT: Added more questions. Thanks to Cerrida for the advice!

 

[Hungry Donner]

What did you do before the internet for:
1. Research
2. Communication
3. Leisure

1. Books
2. Phones
3. Computer games, board games, pen and paper role playing games, reading, enjoying the outdoors

The internet has supplemented all of these but not removed their importance.

 

[Cerrida]

1. We had to use books and look through the library's periodicals. I remember my English teacher limited us to one or two internet sources since it was still new and not credible.

2. Called each other on a regular phone and wrote letters.

3. TV, movies, and books.

Your topic is a bit broad, and it's affected society in more ways than just those three. Has it made people more impatient? More confident? I had to do quite a few research papers and in my experience, the more specific the topic was, the better the paper. Good luck!

 

[alfawx]

1. Books, although I was a bit on the wee end of the spectrum to be doing any serious research at the time.
2. I basically just used a phone.
3. Played my N64 and sometimes hit things with sticks.

 

[Sticky Squid]

What did you do before the internet for:
1. Research
2. Communication
3. Leisure

1. Make things up and hope for the best.
2. Go to their house.
3. Consoles, going outside.

 

[El Poncho]

1. Research- Asked my parents since it was Primary school stuff.
2. Communication- Knocked on my friends door.
3. Leisure- Football(soccer) mostly.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I was only in junior high when the internet started to really catch on, but I still remember quite well what life was like before cyberspace reigned supreme. Thanks for making me feel old anyway though.

1. People mostly went to the library for research projects. Sources consisted of books, magazines, and the occasional microfilm/microfiche copy. I remember actually using genuine card catalogs to look stuff up.

2. Telephones and letters were the primary means of communication (speaking of phones, who else remembers rotary dials? They got rid of them when I was around six years old, but I thought they were awesome.)

3. Leisure activities for me consisted of reading, playing video games, exploring the back yard (we lived on an acre of land with lots of trees), building model airplanes, Boy Scout meetings and swimming at the neighbor kid's pool during the summer months.

 

[Sepphyre]

I first experienced the internet in the early 90's when I was around 17, so I remember the time before the internet clearly!

1. Research was done mainly via an encyclopedia and other books at a library.

2. Locally, we used the phone (which had a curly cord connecting the base from the handset). Nationally, you could use either the phone or write a letter. Internationally, phone calls were expensive so you would write a letter but it would take months before you would receive a reply.

3. Played computer games (Commodore 64/NES), listened to music through the radio (FM hasn't changed) or via cassette tapes, rode out on bikes with friends exploring, played cricket/footy in the street.

 

[Palademon]

Research-Annoying library visits

Communication-Occasionally have friends over or have a phone call

Leisure-Play games

 

[Vampire cat]

1. Library and whatever we had at home/got from school.

2. Phone... Or I walked to where my friends lived.

3. Outdoor activities, primarily... I rarely spent any time inside when I was younger.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I would recommend narrowing this down a whole lot, unless you plan to skim over each topic. The effect has been profound enough to fill a thousand thesises [thesi?].
If it's for a Sociology class, I would personally focus on communication.

 

[Queen Michael]

1. I checked the books in school.

2. Called people on the telephone.

3. Read comics and books. Still do.

 

[Jonluw]

I'm only 17, but I'll answer the questions to the best of my ability anyways.

1. Books. I didn't really do much research on anything before the internet though. I wasn't old enough.

2. The telephone, or face to face.

3. Well, I was a tiny kid, so I played with sticks and tiny animals and toys and stuff.

I stil use the telephone, and speak to people face to face from time to time, but I don't use books for research anymore, and my leisure activities have qite understandably changed. That needn't necessarily have anything to do with the internet though... I mean, I played with sticks and stuff.

My online persona is far more outgoing and sociable than the real me.

I wouldn't say the internet has made me more confident... Tell you what: The internet has made my online persona more confident.

 

[Jordi]

I think you should have also asked how old people were when they really started using the internet, because that will give you a lot better context to place the answers in. I think I was about 14.

1. We were taught to go to the library, where we were supposed to get books, magazines and videos (mostly books though). I also remember there being this series of small books with a singular topic that I think were specifically made for kids who had to do a report on some topic. Also, sometimes my parents would help by getting material (books, pictures and articles) from somewhere.
I think scientific research has changed less, because people still seem to rely a lot on journals, but now everything is just easier to find.

2. When we got internet, I used it mainly for chatting and e-mailing my friends in the evenings. I don't really think that replaced any other communication (except perhaps with my family at home). Without the internet, I doubt I would have called or went over to their houses more. Of course, if you're just interested in how I communicated: in person, over the phone and with letters. Just like now (except I would use e-mail instead of letters).

3. Before we got internet, I was a kid, so I played outside or with LEGO or at friends' houses. I don't really do those things a lot anymore, but I think it's because I'm grown up now, not because of the internet. Also, I watched a lot of television and I'd play some video games. I still do that, in addition to surfing the internet and going out with friends.

 

[Scarim Coral]

What I did you do before the internet for:
1. Research- Use my encyclopedias or going to the library to get information.
2. Communication- None (I'm not talkactve) other than talking during school breaks.
3. Leisure- Watching TV, going into town to shop or friend come round to my home to hang out.

 

[Damien Granz]

I have an end of semester project coming up for my sociology class. My topic is "How the Internet Affected Society". So, if everyone could answer a few questions, that would be fantastic. Oh, and please don't turn this into a discussion thread. I'm trying to collect some data and I don't need any trolls.

What did you do before the internet for:
1. Research?
2. Communication?
3. Leisure?

Do you still do these things?

Has it changed your attention span? How so?

What difference is there between you online persona and you?

Has the internet made you more confident?

EDIT: Added more questions. Thanks to Cerrida for the advice!

Is this really how projects are done now, really? "What happened before the Internet, before the internet existed." as if the Internet's this 400 year old thing, and only through the musty peering glass of time and archeology can anyone comprehend life without it. Guess the power never goes out there?

1) We ground animal bones and entrails, then calculated the splatter to divine the past and future. (Come on now, you're doing a project for I'm assuming some higher education and they're pretending people forgot books?)

2) Yelling really loudly and/or bodily musk. Gestures. (Really are phones gone? I own a cell phone, am I some sort of primitive cave man?)

3) Headbutting contests, fighting and lots of sex. (Come on, does this project assume that nobody bowls or does anything anymore? Really?)

4) No. I am now a technological singularity hooked entirely up to the internet, like Lawnmower man, but less cool.

5) No, but I'm sure the constant headbutting mating rituals didn't do wonders for my brainpower, anyways.

6) My online persona can take this study more serious than I can, for he is an individual that is wholly separate from me.

7) The internet has yet to find a cure for tiny penis, so no it has not yet made me more confident. D..Did I say that out loud? Crap how do I edit this?

 

[MercurySteam]

I had to fap to cheap sex scenes off the TV...... uh, yeah.

In all seriousness I have no idea how I lived without it before. It almost never worked on my old computer but now I can take it for granted.

 

[Paksenarrion]

1. Research?
Books in the library.
2. Communication?
Didn't really have many friends. I just talked to books.
3. Leisure?
Books from the library.

 

[oldskoolandi]

1. Books

2. Shouted

3. Alcohol

Glad I could help.

 

[FalloutJack]

{1} Books.

{2} Phone.

{3} Books, games, and television.

{4} Yes.

{5} I don't think so. It's just something that was absorbed into my life and I made arrangements for it, mentally.

{6} Ummm...would you believe none? I am just as crazy, evil, and witty as in real life, I'm sure.

{7} No...because that would denote that I was somehow LESS confident to begin with. More like...my confidence has spilled into other people that I've spoken to who lacked it, and they seemed to grow out of the fugue they were in. (Seriously, this happened.)