As ubiquitous as it might feel now, the internet has not actually been around forever. Current millennials and to a greater extent Gen Z and Gen Alpha are the first cohort to really grow up with it. In the, now distant, past, an online comment would almost certainly be from an adult. Now it’s hard to tell if the meme that made you chuckle is from a highschooler or pensioner. 

The internet, albeit in a completely different form, dates back to the 1960s, where it was used as a time-sharing tool. For the most part, the early internet, to retroactively apply the term, existed as a tool for universities. 

It sort of chugged along in this form for nearly two decades, until in the early nineties, more and more “general” services became available. Since then, it has taken off as a dominant cultural and economic arena. Still, the main limitation was access to hardware. As a result, the average user was an adult with a computer. 

While earlier mobile phones did have access to the internet, widespread smartphone adoption was the final snowflake that set off an avalanche. Suddenly, every cohort in society could get online in one form or another, which, inevitably, meant an entirely new generation of users, particularly younger ones, were active online. 

As of 2007, more than 90% of all telecommunication is done through the internet. Indeed, it has surpassed practically everything else to become the most common means of communication for nearly every group and cohort. At the same time, as these comments and posts show, the level of understanding is not entirely even across the board. 

After all, online content is so vast that it’s easy to get lost, particularly if you are new. Imagine taking anything from cursed images to just random memes and explaining every joke and reference to an outsider. It would probably be impossible. This is why, for better or worse, there are a cadre of people online who consider themselves internet veterans, immune to rickroling and other forms of messing with someone.