One of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’s selling points, outside of the movie, was the official trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water. Despite 13 tiresome years of internet yahoos telling me “no one liked Avatar”, I was surprised to hear audience members several rows ahead of me mention how excited they were for it. Some even cheered. It got me thinking (again) about how disconnected the internet is from reality.
Recently, based on the yearly census, it was announced that the global population had surpassed 7.9 billion. In January of this year, it was estimated that Twitter had a little under 400 million users. When you divide the latter by the former, you get roughly 19.75%. Only 1/5 of the global population uses the site. Think about that.
I bring that up because it demonstrates a discrepancy between the online world and everyone else. If you go online, you see plenty of clickbait and anger. But outside of that, people interact differently too. Remember, the internet prioritizes anonymity, something reality doesn’t. In life, you engage with people directly. Online, however, you can hide behind a username, a profile and a wall of text. A lot goes into pruning all three regularly.
It makes sense that the online world would react differently than reality. Is there occasional bleeding? Yes, we’ve seen it before. But until the wall is fully breached, they’ll never be accurate mirrors. And that’s important.
It’s especially so because the internet loves pretending it’s the authority on how people behave: art? It loves making generalizations. Religion? It loves generalizations there too. Politics? Don’t even get me started!
The internet flaunts its unfounded expertise so often it makes reality look more in-line than it is. Truth be told, most people are apathetic. It’s not because they’re “evil”, they simply don’t have the time. Life takes priority, and we should only be so fortunate when they do care. And when they don’t? Well, that’s a wake-up call.
It’s especially so because the internet loves pretending it’s the authority on how people behave: art? It loves making generalizations. Religion? It loves generalizations there too. Politics? Don’t even get me started!
The internet flaunts its unfounded expertise so often it makes reality look more in-line than it is. Truth be told, most people are apathetic. It’s not because they’re “evil”, they simply don’t have the time. Life takes priority, and we should only be so fortunate when they do care. And when they don’t? Well, that’s a wake-up call.
I started off with Avatar: The Way of Water’s teaser trailer, but this goes beyond that. Religious debates are steeped with bias and ignorance, and it makes discussing them online really hard. It’s especially bad on Twitter, which distills thoughts and ideas into 280 characters or less. If you want to discuss religion, you have to either create a Tweet chain, or be succinct and hope you’re not misinterpreted by someone with a chip on their shoulder. There’s actual room for these conversations, but not online.
But the biggest offender is politics. Politics are already heated and polarizing, but people largely agree on more issues than disagree. Going by the recent controversy over Roe V Wade alone, most Americans aren’t even in favour of reversing the ruling. But you wouldn’t know from how this issue, and others like it, are discussed online. Again, that’s a shame.
I’m not guiltless, either. I’ve made many mistakes and have contributed to the problem often. Yet while I have “blood on my hands”, so to speak, I recognize there’s a disconnect. I don’t think many people do, unfortunately. That worries me if this problem is to be remedied.
But the biggest offender is politics. Politics are already heated and polarizing, but people largely agree on more issues than disagree. Going by the recent controversy over Roe V Wade alone, most Americans aren’t even in favour of reversing the ruling. But you wouldn’t know from how this issue, and others like it, are discussed online. Again, that’s a shame.
I’m not guiltless, either. I’ve made many mistakes and have contributed to the problem often. Yet while I have “blood on my hands”, so to speak, I recognize there’s a disconnect. I don’t think many people do, unfortunately. That worries me if this problem is to be remedied.
It doesn’t help that attempts at being a voice of reason are met with hostility by, again, people with chips on their shoulders. When I recently pointed out, for example, that murdering Israeli civilians in the name of Palestinian self-determinism is detrimental, I was told that “there are no innocent Israelis”. I shouldn’t have been so shocked, but it startled me anyway. It’s not an isolated example either, as I’ve gotten off-putting comments like that on other issues.
I’m not saying that internet discourse can’t be productive. I’m also not saying that issues discussed online can’t be pressing. Both of these are possible, and they’ve happened before. It’s also worth noting that the veil of anonymity allows for information on other life experiences that you’d never have access to otherwise. In that sense, the internet and real life not syncing’s beneficial.
Sadly, that’s not always the case. While the internet can sometimes be a useful tool for dialogue and conversation, it’s more frequently not utilized that way. People make ignorant statements without thinking, and they generate impulsive responses and bubble realities. The latter in particular has ripple effects where people think reality’s like that too, until oops! It isn’t.
I’m not saying that internet discourse can’t be productive. I’m also not saying that issues discussed online can’t be pressing. Both of these are possible, and they’ve happened before. It’s also worth noting that the veil of anonymity allows for information on other life experiences that you’d never have access to otherwise. In that sense, the internet and real life not syncing’s beneficial.
Sadly, that’s not always the case. While the internet can sometimes be a useful tool for dialogue and conversation, it’s more frequently not utilized that way. People make ignorant statements without thinking, and they generate impulsive responses and bubble realities. The latter in particular has ripple effects where people think reality’s like that too, until oops! It isn’t.
If anything can be gleamed from my thoughts, it’s that, like the aforementioned trailer, people online need to stop pretending that reality matches their stances on everything. Because it most-often doesn’t, and behaving otherwise is a recipe for disaster. Also, get outside and touch grass. I assure you that grounding yourself with nature is better for your well-being than being stuck in a virtual world.
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