We use the Internet to exchange countless amounts of information every day.
For most of us, the Internet is a product to consume.
Amazon. Instagram. Netflix. Spotify. Snapchat. Facebook. Twitter. Youtube. Gmail. Slack.
We consume these products, and these products consume us.
But, what if we think of the Internet not as a product to consume, but as a medium to improve our life?
We can use the Internet as a medium to learn new things. We can go to sites like Coursera to search for subjects to learn and practice. We can go to specialized forums like StackOverflow for software development tips, or BiggerPockets for business and investment discussions.
We can use the Internet as a medium to grow with others. Join different meetup groups of interest and meet like-minded people. We can use LinkedIn to expand our professional network, reach out to others for mentorship.
We can use the Internet as a medium to achieve personal goals. We can keep online checklists on the things we want to accomplish every day or every week. We can write blog posts to share our thoughts and progress on our personal goals.
Thinking of the Internet as a medium takes conscious effort, and it takes practice to form such a habit. But once we embed that mindset in our daily life, we become the masters of technology, which enables the Internet to benefit us, not consume us.