“How to use the internet?” Manual

When I bought a juicer it came with “How to use” manual. The manual had some pictures were showing how to place fruits and vegetables in and how to set speed according to the what was put in.

Similar manual came with the oven I bought, giving how to set it up and usage of buttons information in it. Even, when I bought a car it had manual. When I bought my first Megan Hatchback I first went to mom with it. I parked on the side of the street and visited mom. When the time to return back, after unlocking door and sitting at the seat I couldn’t start the car. The key was not turning at all. I read the manual a day before using it. I couldn’t remember such an issue was written in it. So checked the manual again. There was no info about it. So I called the service. After a few minutes they came. When they see the problem they laughed at it. This was first time I was aware of wheel lock!! When the wheel turn at some point it was locking the car. Well, that info was not in the manual. 🙂

Manuals are most of the time useful.

Before I use the internet in 1989 at the company I worked for I remember taking a course about it. It was about where the “internet” came from, I mean ARPA, IP addresses, networks, how it works and so on.. a mix course, with mostly technical and some soft information.

Then at the end of 90’s when I first get the internet connection to home, there were no manual giving by the service provider. Their tech guy came in and set up the modem and established the connection. There was a manual for modem, it was in English and had screenshots of how to set it up. Later on modem’s manual was in Turkish. Now it has no manual at all.. So, there was no manual giving about “How to use the internet” by the provider.

The technical part of “How to use the internet” can easily to be a kind of manual, but the soft part? It is not so easy, since it depends on user. There are many browsers and social platforms around, and every platform has different goals and usage. When I search at Google there are more then 20 social media applications around.

Think about email platforms; it is again more than 20..

So which one should the “How to use the internet” should include?

If the manual was about what to post or send, then can we talk about freedom or freedom of speech?

If we are considering the danger side of the internet when mentioning “How to use the internet” then we should change the name of it, and name as “The dangers on the internet”. Then this manual may include how to be safe on the internet. I think this is much more valuable and worth the effort..

April 2021 – Oya Şanlı

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