The internet - or online as it’s referred to these days, god I sound old - gets a bad rep.
Sometimes this is for good reason. The way online spaces have been overtaken by trolls, hatred, and abuse you’d be forgiven for thinking no good could ever come out of it.
However, you have to remember the internet alone is not malevolent - just that some of its users are. You can say this of many things in society. Politics isn’t evil, but the people who govern with politics are - you can begin to see the pattern here - people are the problem!
So online, social media and the digital world don’t deserve their bad rep. People who misuse these spaces deserve that bad rep. Putting a face to the issues makes it more understandable, and it is also easier to see the problem.
It also shows us how we can fix it. We need the apps and businesses involved in the online world to do more, to create boundaries that stop abuse and hate.
I could go on and on - but I figure you probably have read similar things - so instead I’ll finish with a nice thing. I love the online world because I learn so many things all the time - especially from Tik Tok, when I’m on the loo!
I learned about the abbreviation ‘etm’, which can be used to say ‘and shit’. We all know etc. (and so forth) i.e. (that is) and e.g. (for example). Now we have a new one - taken from the Latin et merda, this is the abbreviation of that. Enjoy using etm. in your everyday language!
Just one of the many reasons why the internet deserves more praise than it gets!
