Photo by Philipp Katzenberger, Unsplash.

We’re the generation that didn’t grow up with the internet. There were no smartphones, no Wi-Fi, no endless social media feeds. Our childhood was made of dust, noise, laughter, and sunlight. We played outside, ran in the streets, rode bikes, argued over plastic balls, and made peace with a handshake, not a text. Life was simpler, but it was real.

Then everything began to change. First came the home computers and those dial-up connections with their strange noises. Then chat rooms, blogs, forums, and later social networks took over. We were the in-between generation, standing halfway between two worlds. We were not fully offline, but not digital natives either. We saw both sides, and maybe that is both our challenge and our gift.

Now the internet is everywhere, and living without it feels impossible. But the question is, what do we do with that? We can’t go back to the past, and we don’t want to lose ourselves in an online world that never stops moving. Maybe our job is to build the bridge between the world we touched and the one we scroll through.

So what should we do? First, we need to remember that the internet is a tool, not a home. We are meant to use it, not live in it. Balance is everything. Just as we spend hours online working, learning, or relaxing, we need to spend time offline too. Go for a walk, talk face to face, read a book, feel the air outside. Use the internet with intention, not as an escape from the real world.

Most importantly, we must not forget where we came from. The simplicity, the connection, the laughter that came without filters or likes still matter. We can use the internet to bring people closer, to share, to learn, to grow. But we have to do it consciously.

It’s not about rejecting the digital world or clinging to the past. It’s about finding a way to live meaningfully in both. The internet wasn’t made for our generation, but now that it’s here, we get to decide how to use it without losing the parts of life that made us who we are.