Retired teacher, sixty-two, completely new to this and slightly embarrassed

I taught fourth grade for thirty-one years and spent most of them telling children to stay away from all of this, so you can imagine how it feels to be typing here. My knees hurt, I sleep badly, and my daughter suggested I look into it, and now I have a browser with eleven tabs open and no idea which of them to trust. What I do not have is anybody to ask. My friends either think it is wonderful or think it is a catastrophe, and neither group seems to actually know anything. I am not looking for someone to tell me what to buy. I would like to understand the vocabulary first, because right now every page I read assumes I already know what it means. If there is a beginner thread I should have read before posting this, point me at it and I will go quietly.