Online but not inhuman

Do the people we interact with on the Internet feel like people anymore?

That might sound like the pitch for the newest science-fiction mini-series on a cable network. But, far from vampires or Klingons, I really do have a point to make here. How many times have you looked at the comments section of your favorite news site and read someone’s words absolutely ripping another person apart?

I don’t think humans are fundamentally capable of hating each other just because they might want to. No, I think to harbor the kind of malice I see in these comments, one must first strip from the opposing person all elements of humanity.

The Internet is especially good at that. To discuss any controversial topic on the Internet, one does not have to be an expert. One merely needs to be able to use a computer.

I do not want to disparage that. It is wonderful so many people who would not have been able to participate 30 years ago can now do so.

But the simplest path to compassion is to discover in each other everything we have in common. And the simplest path to hatred is to emphasize every way in which we are separated.

When I am online, separations are much easier to see than connections. When I read a comment on a news story, I typically do not see a picture of the person I am having a conversation with.

Most times I will not be aware of the person’s name, age, hometown, history, loves or fears, goals or even the person’s gender.

That is something I mean to critique. The Internet is wonderful for when I am writing a paper at 2 in the morning.

But the Internet makes it too easy to strip away every connection I have with another human being. And when I allow it to do that, I remove every barrier between my actions and unfathomable cruelty.

It takes an extra dose of understanding and compassion to treat someone online with the same respect and love one would show if one could see his or her face.

But that makes it even more imperative.

Separation can be a beautiful, fascinating thing. It defines some of my most cherished relationships, but only when in contrast with connections. By themselves, they can breed only pain.

And pain has been bred in countless locations from separations highlighted by the Internet.

From a Rutgers college student to a 13-year-old girl from Missouri, too many people have committed suicide with one common thread — dehumanization is made so simple by the Internet.

Every human characteristic I possess disappears when all you can see of me is a byline, a tiny photo and an email address. All we can see are our separations.

So, in your mind right now, am I really a human being?

— drlreed@indiana.edu