Social Question

tdreichert's avatar

The information available on the internet has changed my life! How has it changed yours?

Asked by tdreichert (228points) December 5th, 2009

I found out that I had a 22 year old daughter by searching facebook. I know that I would of never known this had it not been for the internet. This is a life changing moment for me. I had no clue. Does anyone have similar experiences?

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16 Answers

Dog's avatar

I found out on the internet that the state had $1400.00 that belonged to me from my employee shares in a restaurant I worked at that had been sold to another chain. I had forgotten all about the shares. It was nice to get the unexpected windfall.

PapaLeo's avatar

Wow, a daughter you didn’t know you had?!!! How did that happen? (or did I miss that thread?)

PapaLeo's avatar

I can’t say there is any single event, like you, that changed my life. But certainly my way of working has changed significantly. I’m old enough to remember when fax machines were introduced into workplaces, and how much that changed the tempo in which information could be exchanged. The internet, therefore, wasn’t so much a revolution as an innovation in this process.

MissAnthrope's avatar

@tdreichert – Wow, that’s pretty amazing! Congrats.

@Dog – You may have changed my life via the internet. I got a couple of hits on the VA site for an insurance premium refund and a tax refund. I’m jazzed because I never thought my name would ever come up for that sort of thing.

jrpowell's avatar

I went from watching TV and playing video games in my spare time to reading the shit random people spew. I got exposed to new ideas, I learned how to defend my own. And if you think my spelling and grammar is bad now you should have seen me ten years ago.

tdreichert's avatar

I had to be talked into joining facebood. Now I preach it;so to speak. It’s amazing how far we have come in such a short span.

Sueanne_Tremendous's avatar

The minute I found IRC back in 1994 I knew that my world had just been expanded to a level I would never have thought possible. Using Internet Relay Channel I learned that there were many people like me around the world and that I wasn’t alone. I knew I could live my life out of the closet, as it were. With the advent of the World Wide Web a year or so later I could search out more about my situation and meet like minded people. I guess in a way the internet saved my life.

nebule's avatar

mainly… I wouldn’t have a social life
my social life is her on Fluther and and Facebook
actually Facebook isn’t a social thing for me it’s just an outlet to seek attention
Fluther peeps are my friends and I feel closer to some people on here than even those in reality around me
gees I really do love you guys

apart from that…
I wouldn’t have met up with Mike (my ex), which generated a lot of love and a lot of lessons in my life.
I wouldn’t be able to find my way to strange places (because I don’t have a sat nav and can’t afford maps)
I would have a lot more library fines
I wouldn’t be in touch with some of my treasured childhood friends note to self: must email them today and see how they are

lots of things really….

but without the internet I would probably get a lot more reading done so that’s not a good thing MUST DO BETTER!

Val123's avatar

@tdreichert So…what’s the story? How did you find out??

I am able to prove I’m right in under 30 seconds now, whereas before I might have to wait months before nailing my proof!

RAMesesII's avatar

I have to say that there hasn’t been any ‘one’ thing, that I can remember, at least…

But the fact that so much information is available on the Internet is a big impact in itself.

lifeflame's avatar

resources for teaching. definitely has made the job much much easier.

wundayatta's avatar

The information I’ve found on the internet has had a huge impact on many aspects of my life. Perhaps none was as big as finding out that a medical center in NYC had a 25–30% success rate at the procedures necessary for us to conceive a child. At the time, that was twice as high as the next closest center doing that kind of work. Without the internet, I often think, I never would have been a father.

filmfann's avatar

Some African former president need to funnel some money thru an American account, and cause I am helping him, pretty soon I am gonna be rich!
Thank goodness for email!

CMaz's avatar

I am sure it has changed many.

When doing a search for horses. Instead, coming across something/or someone hung like a horse. Or worse yet “other” horse activities.

tdreichert's avatar

i’ve got some money I want to funnel through you too, filmfann.

AnonymousWoman's avatar

I used to be incredibly and terribly shy in person outside of my home. I am a writer, so sharing my ideas on the Internet has helped me gain confidence which I’ve taken into the “real world”. The Internet also helped teach me Geography. I remember being confused about Florida because it seemed separate from the USA before I started talking to people online who are actually FROM Florida. I was also confused about Hawaii! So, thank you, Internet, for teaching me Geography! I also learned about different time zones and how real they are from talking to people on the Internet. Thank you, Internet! There is so much more, but this is enough for now.

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