Feels Like Home

As soon as I started reading the first article, I was able to relate to this topic. The reason behind that is because, my parents and I didn’t have access to internet 3 months ago. My family and I had always wanted and needed internet access, but we lived in rural area. Not only weren’t we able to have internet but the signal for our phones was always low. A lot of the popular internet companies were never able to offer us internet access because of where we lived. It was always hard for me to go back home and do homework because I would have to go to the library just to use their Wi-Fi. Not only was it hard for me but for my parents as well. Sometimes my parents wanted to skype with our family from Mexico but without Wi-Fi it’s very hard, even if we wanted to use our cellular data. Sometimes my parents wanted to use their smart tv to watch Netflix, but they couldn’t even do that either. I didn’t really care about having to go to the library just to be able to do my homework but what bothered me the most was knowing how badly my parents wished they had Wi-Fi. Even after we found a company who offered internet where we live, we had to wait a couple of months because during that time my dad was between jobs. The first payment was $200, and they had to wait until they had enough extra cash. Even right now my dad always must prioritize the way he uses his money because he has many bills. We also, chose the lowest price so sometimes the Wi-Fi is slow but because my dad has other bills we can’t choose the fastest one. I’m very glad we were finally able to get internet access. But my aunt can’t get internet for her kids, my cousins, because they’re struggling financially. So now they’re able to get internet but can’t because they don’t have enough for money. Even if it isn’t my family dealing with too many financial struggles, there’s always someone else and it isn’t a few people. there’s a huge difference now of having internet. Now my parents get to watch Netflix and be on YouTube anytime they want to. Going back home is so much easier because I can stay home to do homework. I also don’t get bored too easily because I can communicate more with my friends. I have a friend who also lives in a rural place but with more people around and the signal is so bad you can’t have a long phone call without it dropping. 

There’s a couple of ways that maybe social media can be used to teach and inform people. from personal experience there has been time when social media has informed me about important decisions made by the president. Ever since I moved to Chico for school, I don’t have cable so the only way I read the news is by following news pages on Facebook. So, when there started to be rumors that trump was going to end DACA, I found that out through Facebook. A couple days later, trump announced his decision to end DACA. If I wouldn’t be on social media, I probably would’ve never found that out. So, for people who can’t watch tv to see current news, social media can help with that. I think social media has impacted everyone’s, especially young kids learning because it can be very distracting. I’m barely 21 years old and even I get distracted by Facebook. For example, like right now I was in the middle of typing this post and as I checked one text, I automatically got on Facebook without even thinking about it. It felt as if it was an instinct to do and after a couple minutes on Facebook I realized I had to get back to typing my blog. So, think about it, a 21-year-old who’s supposed to know what’s more important, their college homework or checking Facebook and compare it to a 12-year-old who sometimes rarely has homework. I’ve seen how my little cousins are with Facebook, they’re always on it and I think it will have an impact on their brain because their brain isn’t fully developed. I mean my brain probably isn’t fully developed either, but it certainly is more developed than theirs. If we are taught how to use social media in a correct manner, maybe limiting our time and requiring everyone to at least follow a certain number of educational pages, something better can come out of it. That way we at least won’t always say social media is a waste of time or that it “kills” brain cells.