The Power of Connection

Blog post reflecting on your own personal use of the Internet and how you use the connection and power of hyperlinks.

In college I was a foreign exchange student at a small university in Japan. I don't remember how often I called home, but I do remember that it wasn't very often.

Photo Credit: Endangered in Japan by kimubert via Compfight cc

When I did call home, I had to go to a payphone like this on campus, and dial a number to some phone company where I would have to dial another number that would connect my to my parents house. This was all before I had access to the Internet back in the U.S. (I was even sending hand-written letters then.) Fast forward to this morning when I used Skype to call my mom [from Japan] for free.

I am so glad I don't have to seek out a payphone.

I believe the power of the Internet, combined is how is is flattening the world and giving more people than ever access to information.

People can take free college classes. We can read newspapers from all over the world whenever we want, well, the free ones at least. There are ebooks, blogs, websites, videos, and infographics.

But all these tools are nothing without the people and the ideas behind them. Now, more than ever, it is so easy to find people with great ideas and hear what they have to say. We can get and give information quickly. (Sometimes too quickly.)

This is what the Internet is all about. The connections are where the power is at.