Net Poison Quotient

Sometimes I wonder if the Internet is really good for people.  I find there is a great deal of negativity on the internet.  Maybe it's a reflection of the real world, but I think the anonymity of the internet gives rise to more negativity.

I also wonder if people read and respond to comments more out of rage-reading than out of genuine concern.  I find myself sometimes rage-reading articles, posts, or comments, the same way I find myself sometimes rage-watching MasterChef or other competition cooking shows.

I want to think people are better than their comments, but unfortunately, I think they are not.  I think the freedom afforded by internet anonymity really allows people's true selves to come out in ways that in-person communication does not.  It also allows people to share their negativity with others, and then there is a whole community of like-minded people spewing forth negativity together.  It can be a quite poisonous environment.

It is so easy to get caught up in the in the negativity, that it bleeds into non-internet life.  I'm not sure what to do about it.  I doubt seriously that people are going to give up the internet.  And I doubt even more that people will change.  No, I have no solutions.  But I do know I am trying very hard to step away and get that kind of negativity and rage out of my life.  I do not need that kind of poison.