why the internet is not Vegas

LJ Idol week 30 (4/6): cesspool

Urban Dictionary has a fantastic definition for the cesspool of humanity: "the comments on almost any YouTube video".

I've met too many people who think the internet is fake. Not in the sense that it doesn't exist, but in the "What you say on the internet doesn't matter [because it's not face to face]" sort of way.

O_o

Except when it does matter. What you say on the internet has the potential to stay forever. Think of it like cave paintings that have been digitized. That shit won't decay.

A meme is a vehicle to spread cultural ideas. Once those ideas shift offline, they become an active part of everyday life in the physical world. Those lolcats you love? I see that kind of grammar in my students' papers. Go out to any bar on Friday night, particularly in Silicon Valley, and you'll hear at least three references to Rage Comics. I'm not saying this infiltration is a bad thing. Actually, I think it's really funny and I'm an enthusiastic participant. But remember that what you say on the internet doesn't stay on the internet; cyberspace bleeds over into meatspace.

When you're on the job market, count on the fact that your employer is checking out your Facebook page. I've known people who have gotten fired over their photos, or people who didn't get called back for the interview because their blog is just a little too inflammatory. The internet is a place where the worst of people comes out. You've all seen it, in flame wars and spates of trolling.

[We interrupt this post to bring you a brief PSA from a paranoid interwebber: check your privacy settings. Filter aggressively. That stupid joke between you and the friend you like to get roaring drunk with every other weekend could be the thing that stands between you and your future dream job.]

Fortunately, the internet is not a total waste of pixels. The best of people can also make an appearance from time to time. The internet has inspired social change, as well as giving people access to a way of making that change happen (e.g. the protests about SOPA/PIPA and the Arab spring phenomenon that spread across the Middle East last year). The internet has also inspired great beauty, like a lot of Tumblr culture, and has made it possible to fund impossible dreams via Kickstarter and Kiva.

We're not unavoidably doomed to the cesspool of humanity; we have a chance to climb out. The first step, though, is to understand the power of our words on the internet. Virtual reality is still real. It'll kick your ass if you're not paying attention, but when you are, you can change the world.


Thank you vorsaga for being an unfailingly patient beta-reader.


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