Do I remember life before the Internet?
Of course I do.
I grew up in the ’80s and became a teenager in the ’90s. Life then was quieter, slower, and strangely blissful. We didn’t carry the weight of a world always online. We were present in our bodies, in our neighborhoods, in the heat of the afternoon sun.
I remember riding my bicycle endlessly, barefoot on some days. The playground was our gathering place. We hung out at each other’s houses without needing to text beforehand. Plans were made on the spot, and laughter didn’t need filters.
Our entertainment came in tangible forms: television with fixed schedules, cassette tapes we rewound with a pencil, video tapes worn thin from repeated viewings. I used to save up to buy cassettes of my favorite rock bands (Guns n Roses, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkin, Green Day, Soul Asylum, Radiohead, Pearl Jam); the thrill of opening a new tape, lyrics printed on that folded sleeve, memorized by heart.
We socialized face to face. If you had a disagreement, you talked it out, or didn’t; but it was direct. There were no curated posts seeking validation from strangers. Our stories stayed among those who lived them.
We wrote letters. Real ones, with pens and paper. We found pen pals through magazine sections, excitedly waiting weeks for replies. Our words stretched across borders without the instant gratification of likes.
We researched by visiting libraries, thumbing through encyclopedias and taking notes by hand. We read books—more books. Not because it was trending, but because it was a portal to something bigger.
Life felt simpler. Not easier, but less fractured. There were no pop-up notifications dragging us from one thought to another. Time moved differently. Slower. Deeper.
We met potential girlfriends or boyfriends through mutual friends or social gatherings. You knew the sound of their voice before reading their texts. You knew their face before their username.
And maybe one of the greatest gifts of that time was this: we didn’t suffer from FOMO the way we do now. We weren’t constantly exposed to what everyone else was doing. We lived our lives without needing to compare them.
Life before the Internet wasn’t perfect. But it was more present. And sometimes, I miss that.
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