3 Shocking Truths About the Internet You’re Probably Forgetting About

I think we can all agree that being on the internet is a lot, especially in 2021. No matter where you turn you are constantly bombarded with strong-willed rhetorical arguments from all sides of the political spectrum and often you are made to feel like garbage for it. Most of the time it feels like when you spend more than 2 hours on any platform online you will find yourself either incredibly frustrated, angry, worried, or overwhelmed. It can be a lot to handle.

As a millennial who has been online for more than half of their life, I feel like this space has shaped me in ways I will probably never truly understand. I understand that people feel a deep connection to this digital space, and I never want to take away from that experience. At the same time, I think it is important to recognize the internet for what it is, a public global community with diverse ideas. I love it here, but I despise how most of us use this platform currently. I think the internet has the capacity to create an incredibly diverse world of ideas and could help continue the fight to get people out of poverty worldwide, but currently attention on the internet has been monopolized by divisive polarizing political, social, and historical discourse.

When we interact with the internet, I don’t think we are often aware of the immense power we have with how we use it. If we are aware of the truth and reality of how the internet works and its power on society, I think we will stand a better chance at molding this communication technology for good.

Truth #1: Every click you make; data is created about you.

I know you’ve probably heard it before, but it needs to be said again. With every tap and click you make online, data is created and stored about you and your habits. Whether that’s an online purchase, form you filled out, or random idea you typed into Google, your behaviour online is being stored for someone else.

Nothing online is private. Yes, you can use VPNs to hide elements of your data, but it won’t scrub the whole picture. It is quite difficult to scrub yourself completely from the internet and even if you did… what kind of a life online would you really be living?

Data is collected to better understand your behaviours and bring you products and services you want to buy, or so at least that’s the intention. It’s the reason the Google Homes, Siris, and Amazon Alexas are getting smarter. It’s the reason you get a tailored ad experience when you go to a lot of sites online. Do you want to get ads for random things you don’t need, or do you want to hear about something that interests you?

Developers and coders are incredible people who create intuitive products we want to use. What is important to remember is that the reason they are effective is because you are the thing they are observing. If they better understand your behaviours, they have a better idea of how to market and sell to you. It is an unfortunate reality, but it is one you should be aware of. The internet works because we feed it useful information.

Truth #2: Internet communities aren’t just positive; they have their negatives too.

There is a dark side to this space, and we’ve seen it play out in democratic elections. If you consistently engage with certain types of content online politically, you will stay in an echo chamber of those ideas. Whether that’s on the right or the left. No one is immune to finding themselves in a rabbit whole of strong political opinions after clicking through one too many blogs…

We didn’t just wake up and suddenly find ourselves on these far left and right communities online. We were driven to those communities because of consistent behaviours online. Joining a far left or right community is a reaction to something else. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but it is something to consider.

Is the image you are cultivating online an accurate representation of who you are offline? If you carry a duality to those two worlds I must ask, why do you do that? Is this double agent life bringing you happiness and peace of mind?

Taking a conscious approach to how you engage with political ideas is something we all need to practice, and I very much include myself in that.

Truth #3: The internet has major real-life consequences.

I know that the obvious example of this would be the 2016 USA election, but I want to take us back even further for a contemporary history lesson (is that even possible, I do not know).

Back in 2010 parts of the Middle East and North Africa saw incredible change and revolution during The Arab Spring. What started as a wave of pro-democracy protests organized from online communities transformed into larger sociopolitical unrest resulting in the Jasmine Revolution, Egypt’s January 25 Revolution, Libya Revolt, Yemen Uprising, and the ongoing Syrian Civil War. While many argue that the social media and the internet did not have a direct influence, I think it is important to consider the effect of digital technology in those events. In the same way the printing press helped spread ideas across Europe, online communication helps ideas spread across global borders at the speed of light. Its hard for political leaders to keep up… that is unless they lead the conversation.

I am not saying that revolution works, historically there’s a lot to say that it doesn’t, and I tend to fall into that argument. Reflecting on the impact of The Arab Spring now highlights some important gaps in democracy in the region that we all should consider.

I mention The Arab Spring because after being one of those westerners who was glued to my screen for updates from the event, I was both fascinated and terrified by the influence technology could have on governments who were technically ‘asleep at the wheel’.

Unless we lose our ability to extract large amounts of energy from this earth for our silly little ideas, the internet isn’t going anywhere. It is our main source of communication in the 21st century. Governments, politicians, and advertisers are aware of this fact. It isn’t a conspiracy; it happens because it’s in their best interest. That’s how you make money and consolidate power. It’s just powered by servers in databases that you don’t know exist somewhere in someplace.

What can I do about it?

Maybe you’ve gotten to this part and now you’re bummed out. Okay I’m sorry about that. Not my fault, just a realist over here! And I like my ideas straight up.

I don’t come to you with a preachy attitude that just makes you bummed out. I am bringing this up for good reason. Actionable reason. Don’t read this post and then go back and play ignorant to how you interact with this platform. Use it with consciousness. It will take a while to get used to this new way of doing things but trust me when I say it is worth it and totally doable. These are some of my best tips to combat the internet reality bummers with your best foot forward.

The first thing you should be doing is taking regular time offline. I know that sounds crazy and a no brainer, but I seriously mean it. Block off at least one day a week that you won’t be online. Lock your phone and computer up if you must but seriously do it. Take an active approach to get the eff off the internet. It’s a great first step. For me personally I try to go for that approach on the weekends and Fridays.

The next thing I want to mention is taking time to do lots of research into topics that you are concerned about and making sure that you get perspectives from multiple sides. That means that if you find something that strongly takes a side for something, go and Google the counter argument and read about that as well. Make sure you hear multiple perspectives so you can really reflect and try and understand where you feel about the argument. Who wants to hear from people who just regurgitate other ideas out of context? It’s refreshing to hear an alternate opinion. It doesn’t mean you have to agree with those people, it just means you are considering multiple perspectives before making up your mind. That’s a good thing.

My final recommendation is my favourite, a personal punk preference and that is tricking the system. Confuse those algorithms, use search engines to learn about a wide variety of things, ideas, and people so the algorithms have a hard time recommending you very specific types of content. Keep your world diverse and full of change. If you want to learn about something new go wide and deep. Once you think you have everything you need, go learn about something else. Don’t settle for one space just because its easier, that’s how you get stuck.

Using the internet with intention takes time but it is so much more of a pleasurable experience. It’s also sustainable. This should be a community you can sign on, meet cool people, hear unique ideas, connect with those you care about most, learn about something new, support an independent business and so much more. It shouldn’t be the place we go to scream at each other.

What do you think? Would you use the internet the way I am recommending?

Let me know.