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Quote by Virginia Heffernan

“People act as if the internet will never die, that the Cloud will never die. In the face of that, much of human civilization, including our human bodies, seem so defective and mortal and constantly fading. Our lifespan is 80 years, 90 years if we're lucky, and that's a drop in the bucket compared to how long we think the internet will live.”

Author

Virginia Heffernan

Virginia Heffernan is an American writer known for her columns in publications such as The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Born on August 8, 1969, she graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English literature. Her writing spans a variety of topics including technology, culture, politics, and society. more

“There's always something in new technology that promotes anxiety on the one hand, but also grieving on the other. With the internet, I think we can remember a time when people said "I don't use email," or "I'm not going to get email." I once had to do a piece on people who had never used the internet and refused to start and I found three people. But when I talked to them, they had used it, at some point or another. It's almost impossible to stay off the internet entirely. We feel as though we didn't get to make a decision. There's this new dawn and we all have to embrace it.”

People Thinking Remember Decision Technology Impossible Internet Anxiety Embrace Grieving New Technology

Author:Virginia Heffernan

“When I first got on the internet as a tween, I wasn't comfortable showing up in social spaces. I didn't have a loud voice. As a function of my youth and gender, I wasn't given a voice at the dinner table, and nor maybe should I have been. But I thought I wanted one, and I was able to have it online. I wasn't a great talker, but I found these other skills. And when this stuff is described as "not real writing" or "bad for my brain" or whatever, it just seems like it's from people who wanted to keep their place at the dinner table.”

People Writing Real Brain Youth Internet Gender Online

Author:Virginia Heffernan

“As far as change, anyone from the age of 13 to 19, you become a whole new person because you grow up. There was so much that I didn't know or that I thought I knew because I was just a 13-year-old at the time who thought I knew everything. But I realized very quickly that, no, there's so much about everything that I don't. So what I've at least tried to do is accept that I don't know everything. Life is so much more fun that way. And it's easier. I've just been trying to learn, rather than to pretend that I'm perfect.”

Trying Age Fun Perfect Accepting Growing Up I Realized

Author:Rebecca Black

“The best thing you can do if you had put something on the internet and watched it spiral out of control is be nice to yourself. Especially when you get on the internet, you have opened yourself up to everybody's opinion, and not everybody's going to be nice. And if you can at least be nice to yourself, that'll help you so much - though it's easier said than done.”

Done Helping Opinion Nice Internet Being Nice

Author:Rebecca Black