Wait just one second before you cuss me out. I might not even be referring to you, but if I am, it is absolutely integral that you remember one thing: You are not alone. As it turns out, I often find myself in the very scenarios that I am about to analyze, so while it would be hypocritical for me to judge you on this matter, it is imperative that an analysis is made. By this point, you have some questions. Who is this madman? What exactly is he about to analyze? I have some answers.

I am a student, teenager, video gamer, and the internet facilitates every one of those aspects of my life on a daily basis. I do research and use google services for school. I communicate and play with my friends on an online server. When one of my best friends spends his summer in Peru, when I spend the weekend with my Uncle in New York, I can interact with my friends as though they were sitting across a table from me. Many subscribe to the notion that the internet contains some innate evil that must be purged if society is to continue. This is a gross oversimplification.

The internet is a tool, but people fear it because it is a tool that has had profound and rapid effects on modern life. One common criticism of the internet is that it encourages and accepts “anonymity”, and there is a general understanding that @anonymouscommenter76 rarely contributes to an online chat unless he or she sees an opportunity to make an ad hominem comment. On this idea, anyone with internet access has the capacity create online content and disseminate it on a staggering scale. These common critiques hold truth to them, but fail to recognize that people are still the content creators.

Before I progress with this argument, I feel obligated to mention that I do not advocate for any kind of censorship. Even though the stratification of partisan politics is reaching a fever pitch online, suppression defies free speech and even deviates from common sense. Partisanship is hardly a new issue. When Grover Cleveland won the presidency in 1884, the staunchly Republican Los Angeles Times simply didn’t report it for days. Partisanship in American media has always existed; however, the topic is gaining unprecedented prominence with the fake news campaigns of this brave, internet-filled world. This is where the internet's capabilities are used and subsequently vilified.

Online interactions are uniquely uninhibited, but the wild west nature of this global technology only exacerbates issues that existed before anyone had posted a conspiracy theory on Reddit. The internet’s capacity to veil its users’ identities certainly contributes to the ideological gap that exists between the liberals and conservatives in modern America as people will never feel compelled to exercise tact or moderation when given the chance to retreat to websites that confirm their beliefs. Adherents to either extreme blindly believe stories that align with their worldview because it is comfortable and reassuring to feel right, but when one disregards any ideas that challenge them, they forfeit their capacity for critical thought. For them, Democrats are commies who want handouts and Republicans are Nazis who exchanged their tanks for elephants.

I would like people to be a bit less comfortable, and while I can’t say that without sounding creepy, it needs to be said. Modern issues need nuanced solutions, but while internet could be a place of elevated discourse that can produce those solutions, people need to use their ability for rational thought. Above all, we need a more tactful approach to online interactions if we genuinely intend for them to be a source for good. A funeral speech does not start with knock-knock joke. To be sure, that’s an odd example, but people online often spout overgeneralized insults in the other party’s comment section before they delve back into reassuring stories and comments with which they agree. We can be better than that. Be uncomfortable.