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Has the Internet Hit a Wall?

When it was first introduced, the internet and all that it brought with it was incredible. It created a flush of original ideas and opportunities and a free platform to share them on. This opportunity built big companies and popularized trends and activities. Though, that started in the 1980s. A lot can be done in thirty-seven years. This begs the question: Has the internet hit a wall?

Everyone knows of some social media sites and apps but no one knows just how many there are. There have been a select few apps/websites that have gained major success and international recognition. There are about five that I can name off the top of my head: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube. These are the five sites/apps that first come to mind when you think of social media. All of these sites work differently and have -- or started out with -- different purposes. With all the possibilities the internet creates, why are there only five major social media sites? Because every other social media site/app is a copy of, at least, one of those sites. All new social media sites are copies of the functions and intentions of a popular site with different formatting and a new name. Everyone’s trying to make a new Instagram. A new version of a popular thing that will beat out the original. This angle to success is very nearly impossible. The only way to create a successful social media site is to have a lot of people use it. Why would people use this new Instagram when they and all their friends already have the original? The only way to create a new, popular social media site/app is by finding a way to create and share a new or different form of content through the internet.

You don’t have to surf the internet for long to find odd, slightly disturbing, children’s games. Dotted Girl Twins Birth, Ice Queen Twin Birth, Ice Princess Twin Birth, Mommy BFF Pregnancy Check-Up and Pixie Pregnant Check-up are all games I found after less than two minutes of being on a website called https://www.girlsgogames.com/. Though the names might be deceiving, all of the aforementioned games are about Disney princesses and, more clearly, birth. Companies have milked the online game industry to the point that all of the content being made are remakes of the last with different popular characters. Beyond that, the titles of the games are what I would imagine a word genorator’s vomit looks like - a random assortment of words that, frankly, I didn’t want to hear. A counterargument someone may have is that the reason there are so many copies of games is because game developers are recreating what’s popular. Though, that is a well-founded argument, I’ve come up with a better one; I’m absolutely positive that no matter how many kids are interested in performing tongue surgery on Elsa, it’s not a high enough number to warrant over two million results on google. 

The internet is known as a fast and easy means to access all the world’s information. For the younger generations, it’s used for entertainment and communication. People have made lasting relationships over the internet, found their supposed soulmate who lives thousands of miles away, married someone who they met online. We use the internet to buy tickets, send money, find employment and so much more. We rely on the internet for almost everything and we’ll keep giving it our trust because it’s never failed us before. “There’s nothing that the internet can’t do” is a true, yet paradoxical expression. The internet can do everything except grow.

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Instagram, we Need to Talk

Hey. I know it’s not the best time, but we really do need to talk. We’ve been going on and off for so long and it’s starting to weigh into other aspects of my life. I’m spending time with you that I could be spending on school work, with my family or with my friends. It’s not that I don’t still love you. It’s the opposite really; I love you too much. I love you so much that It’s interfering with how I think and act. You take up so many of my thoughts that I’ve had dreams about you. I’m beginning to see that our relationship is quickly becoming unhealthy and obsessive.

What I’m trying to say is:

MineSweeper, we need to take a break. 

All my time is spent trying to figure you out. Where can I go? Where am I safe? How close can I tread before everything explodes in my face. You’re like a puzzle that I need to solve. Everytime I make a mistake I become more enticed to try again. To restart and figure you out faster. It’s become habit. Everytime I see you, I immediately find myself trying to figure you out. 

My friends think it’s stupid that we’re together. They’re convinced our relationship is a joke. I’ve tried telling them the truth. I promise, I’ve tried to make them understand. They don’t think people with our difference in age can be together. I’ve tried to not let it get to me. I know they’re not right. I know they’re just closed minded but I can’t pretend there isn’t truth in their accusations. They’re definitely wrong about us being a joke. They’re wrong about our relationship being a lost cause. What they have got right is our difference in age. When we first got together I didn’t see it as a problem. To be honest, I didn’t even see it as a factor. You never commented on my age, I never commented on yours. It’s probably the fact that recently it’s been brought up so frequently that I’m only now starting to think of our age difference as an issue. ^^ I’m sure you understand -- you always do. If it was three or four years, age wouldn’t matter, but you’re sixteen years older than me. I’m sure I’ll get over it. I won’t let something as insignificant as age stop us from being together. 

 You’ve done so much for me. We’ve been together for hours on end. I’ve had an amazing two and a half years with you. It’s been so long, I’d say that, when it comes to you, I’m a master. Thank you for being there when I needed you most.  Thank you for not eating up all my fuel as others have. You’re respectful and conservitive while still being officiant. 

Out of all the millions of alternatives out there -- terrible or not -- I’m lucky that I had you. You’re different from the types my friends hang out with. You don’t have weird secret motives like Facebook does. You don’t put me down like Instagram would. You don’t create conflict like Twitter does. You’re simple and straightforward. There’s nothing I don’t know about you. I never feel at risk when I’m with you and for that I’ll be forever grateful. Thank you, MineSweeper. I’m sure we’ll work things out.

Though I’m sure we won’t be apart for long, know that I’ll miss you and that I’ll always love you.

Yours truly,

Georgia.

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Does the Internet Make us Nice or Mean?

To find the answer to this question I need to compile evidence for each outcome and compare both sides of the equation.

Evidence that the internet makes us nice:

Awareness

With how accessible information has become, we are more aware of the problems and tragedies that happen. This can make us take action and understand our own privilege, thus becoming nicer people.

Connections 

It’s safe to say that most people have good morals. Laws and corporal punishment are evidence of this. No matter where in the world you travel, things such as murder, thievery and unprompted violence are illegal because everyone agrees that these things are bad. The internet acts as a tool to link millions of people from all around the world. Being surrounded by such a large group with -- more or less -- the same morals, it’s easier to integrate people with questionable morals or opinions into the major opinion of what’s just. 

Evidence that the internet makes us mean:

Connections

The problem with grouping millions of people from around the world into one place is: no matter how many good/decent people there are, there will always be those who are less so. Those people tend to group up. When people with bad intentions come together, they endorse each other and end up adding fuel to the fire that is burning down their corner of the internet. 

Influance 

It’s incredibly easy to become an influencer through the internet. It’s free to post videos on youtube, the same goes for pictures on instagram and art on tumblr. The algorithms can’t do anything about the content until it’s posted and won’t do anything about it unless the content is widely seen. People accumulate large audiences, of mostly children, and there’s no one to stop them from creating shady or manipulative content until the content has already been seen. At that point the fan base -- which, once again, is mostly children -- start to mindlessly defend the creator because of the pedestal they put that person on. Social media influencers are seen by the general public the same way we look at famous singers and actors. The main difference is that singers and actors have teams of people constantly telling them how to act and what to say while most social media influencers only have themselves and their friends -- both of whom can be swayed or changed by fame and success. 

In conclusion, the internet can corrupt you and it can help you grow. You will always run into good people and bad people, on screen or off. There’s no avoiding that. There’s only how you choose to react to it. The internet is not the deciding factor in this equation, You are. The internet complies with what you want to do. Therefore, the question isn’t “Does the internet make you nice or mean?” rather it’s “How do your choices online effect the kind of person you become?”.