I’m in a bit of a snit tonight. I’ve been thinking about the wonder that is the internet. It’s absolutely incredible that we have such a tool for sharing information and viewpoints.
And completely unsurprising and pathetic that we choose to use it primarily for watching videos of cats and telling one another how stupid we are for our opinions.
I’ve had a couple of different friends that I actually had to give internet “time-outs” – cutting off all contact with them online – because the kind, intelligent individuals they were in the real world were completely enveloped by the assholes they became online. It’s like all the hearts and brains flew out the window and they became some kind of subhuman – a troll, if you will.
The really frustrating thing is that I didn’t disagree with them all that often. Most of the time I truly agreed with their opinions, and I secretly thrilled at the verbal thrashing they were giving their opponents. But once in a while, they even turned on me, and I realized how awful that feels. Do I really want to align myself with someone like that? Even just online?
There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and I have some definite opinions on the whole shebang. But I just don’t feel like a thoughtful, moderate opinion is welcome – or perhaps more likely, is uninteresting. And that is kind of sad, because it makes it seem like it’s just the zealots on either side of the spectrum screaming talking points at one another.
