Internet’s Rabbit Hole
Towards the start of The Rabbit Hole podcast series, by the New York Times, they ask, “What is the internet doing to us?” Whether we know it or not, the world around us is constantly being affected by the internet. There are people out there who wouldn’t want to live their lives without the internet. Since the boom of the web pages and new communications dur to the internet there are people who have grown an addiction. Too many have fallen down the rabbit hole and have been consumed by the internet.
I must admit, it is fairly easy to become addicted and want to be online all the time. When I was younger, before I had my license so I could leave the house, I discovered that my friends played a lot of online games. I then became obsessed with playing video games with my friends. I was staying up all night because I never got bored. I was able to hang out with my friends without actually being in their presence. It was also another way to, not only play together, but to also be competitive with another by playing against each other. When I was playing games with my friends the concept of time really escaped me. I remember I used to get on after dinner and the next thing I knew it was one in the morning. However, playing video games wasn’t the only time I spent while online. You see, the interent is extremely time consuming. Before I had even realized it, I had spent so much time om the internet, that I would argue, was wasted time.
Like Caleb Cain, from the podcast series, it seemed like tome flew while I was on YouTube. On this site, you can find any kind of video you want to see. However, the site has it set up to where the next video they show next is the next recommended. Therefore, you are showed another video with the same interest but by another creator. I would even watch videos of people playing their own video games. But one subject I found to be very interesting, were conspiracy theories and there are so many videos on all types of different conspiracy theories. One of the first topics I found was the energy drink monster, was a sign from Satan himself. Everything from how the “M” was actually three markings that stood for the number six in another past language, therefore the logo itself made up the numbers six, six, six. Also, that the slogan of “release the beast” was another message from the underworld. The videos I found was that the events on 9/11 were a lie and that it was actually planned out by the U.S. government. That was the realization I had, like Sam from episode 8, that it was just simply a lie. I could relate to Sam when she explained that you just can’t believe everything you see on the internet.
People will come up with the most random stuff on the internet, whether it is true or not. It is a must nowadays to fact check almost anything you see online. Why would someone lie on the internet? I have come to the conclusion that people will post and share rubbish things on the internet for the attention. The more I think about it the more it is true. News outlets and the media exaggerate their stories in order to have the best out of their competitors so that they have more viewers. Social media influencers will share anything they want and lie in order to get more followers. The more views and followers one gets is the more attention they’ll have. Not only can we not believe everything we see on the internet, but it is also changing society and the way we interact. Popularity in school is now about how many followers you have on Instagram. People are considered to be no ones and earn less respect if they don’t have followers on their social media platforms. People can now buy followers to make themselves look good to others. People actually spend money to make a number on their profile grow. A number that makes no difference on how life is lived. The next generation will never know what it would be like to have life outside of chasing followers.