The internet was created for good, so doctors could share information globally, and save lives. Or share any other useful information globally so people could learn, grow, and save lives. It seems as though it has shifted into something nobody prepared for; and it’s forcing the teen suicide rates to skyrocket. 

Teen suicide rates are higher than they’ve ever been. It’s the second leading cause of death in teenagers. I genuinely think it is the saddest thing to happen. My first week of freshman year of college I had one of my close friends die by suicide. He was bullied excessively in middle school on social media and it always stuck with him. Even years later, it remains in a persons mind. Being bullied in such a public form is an extremely difficult thing to go through, in addition to it potentially being there forever if it’s not ‘deleted,’ but we all know nothing is ever really deleted from the internet. 

Using the internet for hate, I personally will never understand. So much hate all the time, especially right now after a powerful election that left a lot of people dissatisfied. There is so much hate in the world now, and the internet is just perpetuating it. It can bring people together, to create social change and get movements started and thriving. However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 20 years, is that there will ALWAYS be assholes. Always. Every time, everywhere you go, everything you do, there’s an asshole lurking. Especially on the internet. Tension rises and fire starts and it creates a disconnect, and that disconnect, dehumanizing people on the internet is where the problem lies. People seem to forget that it is real people on the other end of the screen, and things are said that would never be said aloud. And unfortunately there’s no way to change that. Bitmojis and the new Facebook avatars I think were trying to humanize and make it so you see a little miniature person rather than nothing, but I could be totally wrong. It is a step in the right direction though. Timelines just look like posts, no humanity in them, black and white lettering(obviously unless it’s something more like a specific picture of a person), that people can just comment on and say whatever they feel necessary. There are some catches on Facebook that pick up on extremely vulgar terms, but not a lot. And it’s usually not until someone reports it or after it’s posted that it’s caught and dealt with. 

In addition to straight up bullying on social media, it also opens up doors for stalkers, and other forms of harassment besides bullying. As I’ve mentioned previously, people can make as many emails and as many social media’s as they desire. Instead of blocking a name entirely(which is something they should implement), it blocks the account, which can be deleted or a new one created and we are back to the original problem. Everything should be connected to a phone number, therefore only one account can be made per person with their phone number. Abuse is perpetuated and it harms the victim mentally more than anything. 

I don’t think any creators of the internet could foresee the issues we now currently have as a society. And I’m not even getting into the dark web. Believing in the goodness of people is something I’ve always tried to put first, but the truth is that the internet brings out the best and worst of people. 

I’ve learned so much taking this class about myself and about others. The importance of knowing how to act, and thinking about the next steps and the what if’s later down the line. Social media has always, not necessarily accidentally, been a part of my life and I’ve Facebook since I can remember at like 10. However it really has made me overthink the dark side of things, and where we really failed as a whole people on the goodness of our hearts. This has made me want to better myself online and even just in general. I always want to be the sunshine in someone’s day. 

Works Cited:

“The Digital Culture Shift: From Scale to Power.” Media Justice, The Center for Media Justice, mediajustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/digital_culture_shift_report.pdf. 

Santhanam, Laura. “Youth Suicide Rates Are on the Rise in the U.S.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 18 Oct. 2019, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/youth-suicide-rates-are-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s.