True Character

            I would like to consider myself an observer. I am not a huge talker. Same thing applies to the Internet. I tend to never comment, but only read the comments and eventually come to my own conclusions. Most of the time the conversations I get to read are very interesting and I get to experience different opinions. But there have been times when the comments that I read would be absolutely rude and discriminating.

            I feel like the Internet adds excessive confidence to individuals that do not have it in real life.  All of the sudden, such individuals start being racist, sexist, and mean to others who’s opinions did not math theirs or for some other reason. No matter what anyone says, I am a 100% sure that people who say such horrible things to others would not be confident enough to say it in person. The Internet adds anonymity to people. Therefore, many of us do not know whom we are interacting with over the web. Little do we know, it might be a six-years-old boy who has read someone else say bad things and all he does is repeat them.

            So is the web considered good or bad? According to Leslie R, who made a post about the effects that Internet can have on racism, it can be a “double edged sword.” She argues that “The internet can both help andharm racism discrimination in today's society".  Leslie supports the point I stated above that the Internet does give individuals more confidence and carries fewer consequences for verbalizing an opinion, which is less acceptable by the society.  But on the other hand, it is also used to educate people about races and therefore can also be used to eliminate discrimination.  I believe that previous statement applies not only to racism, but also all other forms of discrimination as well.

            As I mentioned before, Internet discrimination and bullying is a lot easier to spot. Could it be only because it is out in the open? Has a lot really changed? How can we blame the Internet for the nasty character that one can have? To be honest, I do not think that the Internet has made discrimination to be any worse. It is just now in the open, for everyone to see and for everyone to be able to comment anonymously.

           

            Before the Internet, all of the bullying and discrimination used to be done in person; places such as work, school and somewhere else. The difference is, the only people who could experience it and take action in it were the ones directly affected at that certain moment. Not many people then went to their friends, colleagues or family and shared such an awful experience. Most people would just want to forget about it and pretend it never happened.  This cartoon explains the point I am trying to make here.

            In conclusion, I would like to say that yes, the internet has made the discrimination global and made the society to be more aware of what is going on in the world, but it does not mean it increased the number of people who participate in it.  Everything comes down to human character, if a person does not support discrimination, he or she will not discriminate no matter if it is real life or the web and vice versa.