I met a small group of like-minded women that lived near San Francisco when I was maybe ten-years-old, living eight hours away. My parents didn’t particularly enjoy it, but they were like older sisters to me at the time.

We messaged through AIM chat like we were buddies that went to different schools. I can’t sit here and recall a conversation today, but I can discuss the impact it had to meet other creative people at that age.

To date, I don’t meet many other writers in my small town. When you’re a journalist, the circle gets even smaller. Therefore any support you get matters; remote support is so much more than one can think.

So here’s part of the inspiration I drew from–something that social media gave me and continues to give to so many others around the world: interactive engagement and consistent communication.

Also, thanks to Wikipedia for existing during those long nights with lonely, angry insomnia. Which actually was a little bit of asthma and sleep apnea too. But I digress.

Eventually I celebrated my 18th birthday at Bubba Gump Shrimp with my parents and two of my internet friends there. We all happen to follow each other on social media today. They do not know that I still have my gift from that day, almost a decade ago. A black, minimal yet strongly bound and empty notebook for me to write in.

That was the first push I had to follow a dream that seemed to be fading with the dying print media industry.

My internet friends and I are not close anymore but I get the comfort of knowing when I open my Instagram, I’ll see a post from up north or in South Korea. One of them got married in the past year and the pictures were breathtaking. In times like these, those thoughts are comforting.

The midpoint for a random but empowering kinship? A simple Linkin Park message board attached to the official website in 2001.

Next came designing Xangas, one of the first [and many] underground blogging platforms. And then, Myspace. I knew HTML, simple website design, blogging and photo manipulation before I left high school in 2010.

At such a young age, I never realized that I was a part of a prolific moment meant to change the way that humans interact forever. For so long, we were bound by our physical capabilities to move, to see, to feel.

Now, you can connect with someone hundreds of miles away. All of this with the touch of a button. In an era where internet bullying had just become a tangible pain [that now 59 percent of teenagers endure], I found solace from the bullying I experienced in public online.

This was unheard of at the time.

And the internet is still a very toxic place to inhabit. In fact, over three quarters of high school students two years ago did not understand the concept of media literacy, a Stanford University study found. People cannot tell between advertisements and the latter.

Since social media is mixed with all facets of communications, it’s clear that e-commerce is stepping on the toes of the press. Implementing a strong strategy to bring in various consumers through the means of education is imperative for survival.

That’s why I enjoy the career path I chose and the learning that comes with it. I am interested in how human interaction changes through the various modes of engagement over this particular modern age.

Since digital interaction is blowing up right now, it’s clear that addressing the digital divide was going to have to happen sometime. Media and digital convergence will continue to rise and the wealth gap will follow along with it.

Especially with the struggles we’re facing with COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus. The digital divide is a staggering problem grown wildly out of control since the loss of net neutrality. COVID-19 makes it worse.

It’s clear that the use of internet and the products aligned with it [smartphones, laptops, etc.] has gone up, according to Pew Research Center and other internet study trends.

But the amount of unique consumers isn’t going up at all. Only half of the world has internet access. Why is that?

That means that our internet is designed for those who are privileged enough to afford it. That’s not right. The digital divide is real and it’s going to cause problems in an era where a pandemic changed the course of history.

Studying what these statistics mean for us is how those in the communications field can assist in helping businesses stay afloat.

I have gained a lot already from this program about what it takes to use the skills I enjoy, such as writing, and use them to better the lives of both small and big business. I hope to find out more about why social media works in the ways that it does. What does this mean for our future, especially while we are all stuck in self-isolation?

What does the rise of social media engagement reliance mean for the way we process physical emotions in reality? Can social media be a saving grace or is it wrapped up in a wealth disparity gap that we might never break down?

Whatever the case is, it’s 3 am on the west coast so I’m going to wrap this up, add in some outbound links and pictures later. This is the first thing that I’ve really finished since I started my own quarantine a month ago. It’s moments like this where I don’t feel as defeated.

I just want future generations, or even older generations to realize the good behind the internet and why we need to understand the impact of social media–mentally and culturally.

Every bit matters right now. And we’ve all got the time to read.