Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989. I don't think he had any idea it could amount to what it is today. Though the Web is only a portion of the Internet, without it, there would be no social media sites or blogs. In fact, half the pop music we have today wouldn't exist because the artists were discovered online (see: Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, etc.) However, the Web can be also be a dark and scary place- and I don't think Berners-Lee could have predicted that either.
How many times a day do you use the Web? For reading (or writing) blogs, looking up recipes, Googling the latest cat video or reading an article about the most recent celebrity scandal (talking about you, Obama). Most of our world today revolves around technology, considering we have an infinite information source right in arm's reach. But you probably don't just look at one thing. You look at related things. So you read blogs related to the type of style your write and you look at similar recipes to compare and you've probably Googled "cat video" more than one time and you probably said your piece in response to the latest celebrity scandal whether it was on Facebook or you talked about it with someone IRL (in real life).
The point is, the Web has connected us today in a way that nothing else has had the power to do. Everywhere you go you can find a group whether it's a forum for something you like or your Pinterest or your related videos on Youtube. And these tools were enabled to help us make the most of our technological experience. Finding and connecting us with people from all over the globe who share our interests.
For example, when I go to Youtube, I see that I would watch 7/10 of the recommended videos. Of those 7 I follow every person the videos were filmed by. So the Youtube Gods or robots or whatever they are know my interests, because they've tracked them. And they are now hyper-targeting me based on what I'm watched, 'liked' and commented on.
However, with great power comes responsibility. And therefore abuse of power can quickly occur. For instance, you may find Youtube comments on the videos I watch along the lines of 'You wear too much makeup!' 'Get a real job because you'll never make it in Hollywood' and 'Too fat'- and those are the nicer ones.
People take their right to free speech very seriously so if you use the Internet as an outlet for your own positing there's always a chance you will get hate for it.
Another example would be a blog that happens to be against your blog specifically or the type of blogs you read (whether it's for the stye or content).
You could let it go, but because of your right to free speech you may also comment/create your own post in response.
And that's when you give them the power over you. You will do anything to beat them in this "fight" and change their minds but they know they won't and so they're using you for whatever sick reason.
In closing, I'll say the Web is still a great tool that should be utilized often as technology is evolving every day. Just be prepared for consequences for the things you post.
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