A college student’s confession: my ‘guilty pleasures’ on the internet
Carson Myers, Staff Writer
Everyone has weaknesses. When most people talk about their weaknesses, they feel ashamed. Nobody wants to tell their friends that they ate half a cheesecake, overdrafted their checking account at Walmart or spent their Saturday watching re-runs of Golden Girls (all of which I have done).
Of all the guilty pleasures people engage in, people are often most guarded about what internet sites they visit. The internet’s conception was based on the desire to create a purely professional business catalyst. That stigma still exists today.
It’s nice to pretend we have a professional relationship with the internet, but let’s face it: sometimes we just need a little entertainment.
Courtesy of freeimages.com
Here are five of my internet vices:
1. Cheezburger.com
Whether you love them or hate them, internet memes are ubiquitous. Although they are now trendy, memes used to be the emblem of an obscure internet subculture. The website is still active, but Cheezburger.com also contains old memes. I don’t visit often, but I still head to this internet relic more times than I’d like to admit.
2. Airliners.net
Yep, that’s right–an aviation photography site. I visit this site about three times a day. I got into this site over ten years ago as a kid when I would print out black & white pictures of airplanes and color them in. The main contributors are retired aviation professionals with cameras that cost more than all of my possessions combined. There are also active discussion boards which are a great place to watch arguments unfold.
3. Yahoo! News
Yahoo dates back to the early days of the internet. My dad taught me how to use the internet with this browser and it is still my homepage and primary email in 2016. Yahoo News always runs relevant stories with compelling headlines. The best part? The comments section. I generally mind my own business on the internet, but not on Yahoo. Sometimes it’s therapeutic to cut your gloves off and argue with people.
4. Craigslist
I basically look at things I can’t afford. At least I have dreams.
5. Youtube
As a college student, I don’t have a television. I have to find alternate sources of watching tv shows. And vlogs. And crazy compilations….Okay, well I don’t ACTUALLY use Youtube in lieu of a cable TV. Youtube is a major distraction that has a tendency to draw its users in.
The internet has a long, colorful history of entertaining its users. Sometimes, we just don’t want to admit it.
