The Internet has, in many ways, opened up a world of information to the common man. Wikipedia can make an idiot feel intellectually empowered, Facebook catalysed the North African spring and without e-media we would have never known the joys of Rebecca Black. From a liberal perspective, one could comfortably conclude that the Internet is inherently democratic and a friend of freedom – be that freedom of information or the freedom to drool over one of your crushes on Facebook, from the safety of a dark room.
For all its merits, the Internet definitely has a dark side. Before the invention of the Internet, sexual deviants and criminals would quietly think their weird thoughts, cut off from their peers due to fear and social pressure. Now, the Internet has meant these (pardon my use of language) ‘weirdos’ can now anonymously connect with likeminded people, sympathetic to their views, across the globe. The Internet has facilitated the rise of religious extremism, sexual deviancy (see OctopusGirl.com. WARNING: NOT FOR THE FEINT HEARTED/ under 18s/ normal people) and paedophilia. Should the Internet be more strictly censored and regulated to protect the viewing public? Or is freedom of information key to human progress?
Although not directly related to ‘human progress’ (or anything useful for that matter), one of my favourite pastimes is manically laughing to myself in front of a computer screen. The Internet and comedy are meritocratic – if something is funny, people will laugh at it- and the two go together like rice and peas. Youtube and Twitter have enabled your average bloke on the street to try their hand at comedy – often with spectacularly funny and bizarre results.
This post has been completely pointless and indulgent, so I’ll leave you with some painfully funny stuff that I believe would have never come about without the Internet…
Viva la interwebz.
you are a baffling child. xox
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