Ever since the 1990s when it was first opened the public, the world has been figuring out what to do with this finagled thing called the Internet (or World Wide Web if you want to feel retro). Whether it was two decades ago (still a weird thing to say) or just yesterday, you could find spaces where people saved information. Sometimes it was a little too much information. Whether it's general data like a phone number or physical address or personal opinions, it's easy for someone to put their information out there.
Really, that's the thing. Once that information is out there... it's out there. The Internet has been given such a huge infrastructure of server space and routing information across the world that once something is posted online, it's going to stay online. I'm sure it took time for the younger me to grapple over this, but I'm sure there's a slice of a distant server where these blog spots are being stored.
On one hand, this makes it possible for the Internet to be this culmination of knowledge never seen before in human history. On the other hand, the bad stuff may never truly be lifted from our online selves. I'm sure we'll all heard of countless stories where a college senior was not successful in a job search because their potential employer found pictures on social media that they found offensive. I have no doubt that as my generation continues to be a part of world politics, this will play into smear campaigns and TV advertisements. Even something as simple as a blog post from many years ago can be turned against its owner because of a closed-minded opinion, even if the author has since grown as a person.
I see this on Tumblr from time to time. A post will start off talking about a topic like women's rights or institutionalized racism. Then, there will be a reply to the post where someone asked or said something that challenges the original topic, although that person may come from a position of ignorance or lack of information. This is then followed by many people calling this second person an asshole, a misogynist, a bigot, etc. Tumblr doesn't include when posts or replies are published, so this person with the unpopular opinion may have changed opinions or learned more about the world in the possible years since commenting. I've avoided challenging Tumblr posts for this reason, since I'd rather not have my Tumblr experience overrun with negativity and threats.
I also keep this stuff in mind when I blog because my blog quite clearly keeps track of everything I write and publish. I try to avoid complaining about other people since I know those people may read those hurtful words one day. Plus, it may take some time, but the dumb things people are doing in my perspective may not be such poor choices when I learn the whole story. Then I may cringe at what I wrote, realizing that I was the one who wasn't fully informed.
This seems like a deep topic and I hope I could at least scratch the surface and get people talking. Unfortunately, I really can't seem to connect any of today's holidays to my own day without repeating something (especially since most of my day was spent gaming, although that did include an over-sized version of Settlers of Catan). So, I'll just pick one at random... Popeye Day. Yes, it's Popeye Day. Be sure to eat your spinach and be there for the ones you care about.
DFTBA.
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