The Net's birthday

"Why we're losing the Internet to the culture of hate," is the title on the front page of the Aug. 29, issue of Time Magazine. This edition only reinforced my ongoing concern, about what I have come to consider being the "Wild Wild West" of social media.

Here is a quote from the editor, Nancy Gibbs, "Depending on whom you ask, this descent into vitriol is either a triumph over political correctness or an affront to basic decency." I think her meaning is simply that, "the Internet and smart phone age has created multiple systems, that have no filters or editing."

This story really hit home for me, because it came just days after an editing error between me and my editor. Both my editor and I have diligently tried to make sure that what I write in my stories is accurate in both content and grammar. (It should be noted, that when we make an error, we acknowledge it, and if necessary, print a retraction)

It has been a long-standing tradition for American journalism, to commit to this practice of accuracy. That adherence to correctness and honesty is due in large part to our past history, when that was not the case.

In the era leading up to the Spanish American War, our most famous newspapers shamelessly disregarded facts, in favor of sensationalism. The country and our people were whipped into a fever of what was referred to as "jingoism," (a sense that one's country is always right, and that gives us license to do whatever we feel is necessary, including going to war.) The modern era of the Internet has accomplished, what has in the opinion of many, initiated a return to a similar type of "Yellow Journalism" content.

I will use my own timeline to put this in perspective. I received my first Apple IIe, in my high school classroom where I was teaching, in 1985. I found this new device to be so helpful in completing a variety of tasks, that I purchased one for my home the following year.

I discovered that much of my classroom teaching preparations, including worksheets and tests were completed in record time. At home my financial records were customized with a new computer program called Quicken. I could also keep copies of all this work, on what we now view as ancient items, known as "floppy disks."

That simple desktop computer era began to change exactly 25 years ago this week. That was when we first heard of something new called "networking." At the time, this new system made little sense to me and to many others. Little did we know what we were to discover when we began to use this wondrous invention. If one considers the personal computer to be a magnificent invention, it pales in comparison to the historical development of the Internet.

In the intervening years, we have seen our entire society changed in ways that few would have ever thought possible. Powerful new systems that use the Internet have become everyday items in our lives.

Think back to the world we used to inhabit before email, Facebook, Amazon, Quicken, and Wikipedia, just to name a few of the most common Internet offerings. Beyond that, remember back to those long ago days before everyone had a cell phone, which was upgraded less than nine years ago to the first smart phone.

Like the Tower of Babel, mankind always seems to find ways to use new technology, in dangerous or evil ways. The Internet was so new and exciting, that the safeguards like the ones employed in journalism, were never created or followed.

There is a comical phrase that has become popular these days --"I know it's true, because I saw it on the Internet!" We have come to consider things we see on the Internet as factual, regardless of how little fact checking has actually been completed.

The Internet has become a favorite place for bullies. There are documented cases of people who have been murdered or committed suicide, based on threats perceived or actually received via the Internet.

In the Time article, they related that they now discourage their writers from being members of Internet social sites like Twitter or Facebook. Too often, the writers have received death threats over something they have published.

I fear we have come too far too fast. This new technology has created so much opportunity, but also so much danger. One can only imagine what the cyber world will be like in the next 25 years.

I recently saw a cartoon in a magazine. The setting was a mental hospital. There were numerous young people sitting around a room, and each of them was gazing forlornly at their hand, while their thumb was feverishly moving back and forth, over some imaginary object. There were two older men in what appeared to be white doctor's coats, intently watching these young people. One of the doctors turns to the other and says, "we can't figure out what they are seeing or trying to do!" Of course they are spoofing the modern day smart phone, and its overuse by the youth of today.

Yes, we have come a long way in these 25 years. Our world has changed, and it can never return to the way it was before. The Internet is no longer in its infancy.

Even though I recognize the dangers and faults of the Internet, I salute and admire it for the great invention it has become. We should all wish the net a happy birthday, all the while remembering that it is still young and bears watching. Take what you see and hear on the net, with a proverbial grain of salt and some good old-fashioned genuine doubt.