Alternative Reality

A/N: Today rather than writing a normal post about well… writing, I decided to do a Daily Racewood Op-Ed regarding an issue that frankly has been bothering me a lot. I’m eager to hear your thoughts on the matter, as well. 

here’s a common thought that lingers throughout the internet, that it is somehow separated from reality, and therefore has no consequences. This idea of a separate reality can be seen clearly by the statements of people everywhere when talking about their IRL friends (in real life). As if somehow the friends that you have made on the internet are not in fact real. Part of the problem this has created for us is the concept that because the internet is somehow a separate reality, we can say and do things that we otherwise could not do. People can now verbally insult people they hate (or even celebrities) via Twitter or Facebook without even leaving their house (or as a common stereotype would have you believe, their parent’s basement). The fact that one persons opinion on a matter can cause such revile and vitriol is both astounding and a testament to the power that the internet actually has over us. It isn’t as if this is new per se, but the convenience of it, an the anonymity of it has created an entirely new breed of monster that we don’t quite know how to deal with.

It’s been argued that the internet is the last bastion of freedom of the Press and freedom of speech. It’s one of the few things that younger generations are actually willing to fight for actively and very vocally and that fact has managed to catch the attention of older generations in a very real way, for some it’s almost laughable, because we’re more willing to fight for this ‘alternate reality’ than we are for our actual reality in which we desperately need to be fighting. The problem is, how do we reconcile the importance of freedom of the press and freedom of speech with the anonymity and lack of accountability that we have created? At what point do we finally start taking cyber bullying seriously? Bloggers and news editors and everyone talks about it and how serious it is, but at what point do we stop acting like a high school who merely posts the signs that bullying is not going to be tolerated, but at the end of the day never do anything about it? The internet has proven that bullying not only doesn’t end with high school, but also doesn’t even have to end at school, and worse still it’s anonymous, and more convenient then ever. There are a million ways to spew hate and I don’t think I’ve heard one sensible solution to the problem. I’m not saying it’s in the least bit easy, but sooner or later we’re going to have to do more than talk about it’s a problem. We have to do more than simply say that it gets better. We have to act. Because cyber bullying isn’t going to get better on it’s own.