Originally Posted by JesseQuinn

^^gracias for this

I honestly feel like I'm living in some weird parallel universe these days, one where grown adults find it acceptable to rant/debase/insult/threaten peeps who have the temerity to be and think, gasp, different from themselves

I really don't spend that much time online except to work. I check in here and a couple other forums, perform the bare minimum of social media to keep my name/biz out there but fuck me the internet is a really cruel space I try to avoid. I prefer the real world where at least the people I interact with have to look into my eyes and see a human being there, and vice versa.

It's much more difficult to tear a person apart (note, not impossible, just more difficult) when they are right in front of you; the 'social isolation' inherent to the net absolutely brings out our worst human tendencies because this. the same principle is at play in road rage.

social media exacerbates and reproduces these divisions of position and perspective. the content each of us see is filtered by these private/for profit corporations to pertain to our underlying values/views, as determined by computer algorithyms.

the end result is people who share a community, share a nation, share a fucking planet we all rely upon, aren't encouraged to recognize this. being bellicose and selfish and cruel is seen as strength.

social media and the internet also perform useful, constructive roles (providing a voice to peeps who have not historically had a global platform, as a tool for sharing knowledge and ideas) so I'm not dismissing it out of hand. my point is that the internet is a tool, nothing more. it's not actual life.

this tool is currently being used by private interests to divide us, both to ensure the stability of the current system and equally importantly, to sell us shit

there's no god out there that cares about it. humanity and our planet are mere specks in a universe that really has no interest in our wellbeing. the only beings that care about us are us. and this is how we treat each other.

it's fucking insane and nobody wins