I grew up pre-internet and only embraced it at uni, early www time. I grew up not having a mobile phone because they didn’t exist, went to the local (crappy) library if I wanted a map of the world or to do any form of research. Things most people today can do it seconds involved having to get up, go out, and interact with people one way or another.
I rushed out one day and forgot my phone and headphones. I got about 40m away before realising and thought ‘meh’. Didn’t make any difference to my day.
I look at what I do today, and even typing this wouldn’t really have been possible some 25-30 years ago, unless it was in an email to someone I probably personally knew. I only had read-only access to usenet.
Now, everyone (and any bot) can write text on to another computer that others can be influenced by.
Posts that are clearly attempting to manipulate me are everywhere - propaganda thrived on the radio, the television, and now internet. He who wins, gets to write history.
Having so much information at my fingertips (both biased and factual) mean I actually need to interact with the world less because any inquisition can be solved within seconds.
So now, I’m actively stepping away from the online and want you encourage you to do it too! I’ve started to read a physical book, ask more people questions forget my phone more often, and take a better look at the world around me, and things are so much more quieter!
“Muh anxieties” have no excuse because I need to forget about them to do stuff.
We’re actually becoming a world of isolated people falling into particular funnels that shape us. Break free now and do something afk that scares you. Put your phone down, leave it at home when you go out, ask a stranger for directions.
You owe no online community anything, especially not your short-lived time.
The benefits of a healthy online space for discussion premised on shared interest and (ideally) quality are immense, no doubt. Good participation can bring people more of those benefits, and it would be foolish to dismiss them.
But at the same time, we folks in the West at least live increasingly atomized, lonely lives. While it’s certainly better than nothing, particularly if you experience barriers to IRL socialization (disabilities, mental health conditions, etc.), having your sense of community derived completely from the internet has drawbacks.
The medium is particularly vulnerable to manipulation, whether through artificial means or simply groupthink as a product of the specific actors involved (intentionally or not). It can create spaces with weird feedback loops that inform crazy outcomes (think of the incel movement, extremist movements of many colours, etc.). And it removes a bunch of context from the interactions which, on one hand, is liberating (only your words matter, regardless of social position, physical appearance, place of origin, medical conditions, etc.), but on the other is limited (nuances of speech, facial expressions, physical proximity, physical context re: where the interaction takes place - this all adds to the meaning of a given interaction).
As with most things, balance is key. Participate online, sure - you can have great discussions, build friendships, etc. - but recognize meatspace community has value, and should be tended to equally. We should be talking to the people physically around us more, and I truly feel one factor of the shit we wade through these days is that many don’t.