In this edition of “Little Things,” I’m going to talk about the internet. The internet is the greatest invention– better than electricity and air conditioning. I’ve been lucky enough to grow up with it my entire life, and I wouldn’t know what to do without it. It has benefited my life immensely.

The internet being free is the reason that it’s so amazing. Think about everything that you can do on the internet for free. As a kid, all I did was find websites to watch Dragon Ball Z, play flash games and watch YouTube. I’m really happy to say that I’ve since grown but still do all of that, just without downloading the viruses anymore. 

Not enough people think about how it has all remained free, which is amazing. Yes, ads suck, but YouTube is still free. When’s the last time you were happy you could look up virtually anything on YouTube and watch it for free?

Content is virtually endless on the Internet. It’s only around for about 30 years, but it is already impossible to ever see it all. It’s bigger than any library, featuring both the most important literature that’s ever been written and also weird videos for kids on YouTube in Russian. Any show you liked as a child, you can find on the Internet for free. Any show you want to watch now, you can probably watch for free if you look hard enough. 

As a college student, there are the obvious ways I use the Internet academically, but that’s boring, so I’m going to explain the fun things I get to do. I am very poor and food is very expensive, but the Internet is an amazing solution. I don’t have to look through a cookbook; I don’t have to substitute cheaper ingredients. There are thousands of recipes for people in my exact situation. I can also goof off in class less suspiciously now that I don’t have to sneak a book under the desk. I’d much rather see what type of rat I am with a Buzzfeed quiz than take notes in the lecture class that I desperately need and paid for. 

The Internet is also amazing for connecting with people. Everyone feels alone sometimes and everyone feels like they don’t belong somewhere. There are blogs, internet personalities and communities that are infinitely more welcoming to you and your unique situation than family and friends ever could be. The internet also allows you to meet people you never would have before. I don’t care who you are or what you think about them, but online relationships are cute. I truly believe that you might find your soulmate on a Tumblr blog about the pants worn on the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.