The Hill article This week, the internet has finally gone full-on meme-y, and in many ways, it has already gone too far.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Take this recent episode of the The Hill podcast.
Host John Henson asked what the internet’s best advice was for people who are “getting their heads around this stuff.”
It turns out that if you’re not familiar with the internet and how it works, you may not have the answer.
In the podcast, Henson, a former Republican, explains that a lot of the internet can be confusing and, ultimately, harmful.
That’s because a lot more people have an opinion than they realize.
Henson said he was skeptical that there was a good “internet” in the first place, and then he discovered the internet.
He said he discovered it when he was working as a computer programmer and spent a lot too much time on the internet, which turned him into an internet troll.
That was just the beginning.
“I was a very geeky guy,” he said.
“And when I started reading more, I discovered there was this whole other universe of things and that it was not just a computer.
And I found that really interesting.”
Henson added that he got the idea for the podcast after he watched a video on CNN of a person in a wheelchair who is trying to navigate the internet on his own.
“That’s what I’m talking about when I say that I’m on the edge of my seat,” Henson told Himmels.
“It’s like the world’s been opened up to me.”
The podcast has since gone viral, with more than 200,000 people tuning in.
The internet’s power to shape the way we think is undeniable, Himmel said, and that doesn’t hurt.
“You know, we’re in this new age where we’re constantly being exposed to new ideas and ideas that are new and innovative,” Himmell said.
He added that when people are online, they’re less concerned with the truth, and more concerned with whether their opinions are true.
That can be dangerous.
In a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, half of the people surveyed said they were afraid of their opinions being shared by others online, and almost half said they had felt intimidated by their friends.
“When people are talking about their opinions, they are not speaking for themselves,” Himmerl said.
In an interview with NPR earlier this month, Himmerling said he’s been working to get the word out about the importance of internet neutrality.
“People need to be able to go online and not be forced to participate in a way that violates a company’s content,” Homerl said, adding that people shouldn’t have the ability to censor the internet based on a company they don’t like.
The Hill, by the way, is owned by CBS Corp.
