10 things I hate about the internet

The internet. Nearly every facet of modern life is entwined with this technological marvel. I wake up and devour news alerts on my mobile phone, use it to communicate with my friends, document my life through social media, do my research, and collaborate with colleagues around the globe. Even my games have an online component. And when I’m about to sleep, I set my downloads for the night – hoping that something new would be finished in the morning.

Yet, for such an integral part of our lives, there are still so many things in the internet that we’d all be thankful for if it disappears. Here are the top 10 things I hate about the internet:

1. DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRIES

I don’t care if it’s “to improve your services” or “to get to know your customers better” or “to provide more relevant content”. Once your site asks me to register, I’m out. It’s not just the extra effort, or the generic creepiness of asking more details from me – it’s just way too much commitment. I’m the type of guy who purposely uses the wrong name for people who act unduly close to me. I’m only here to read an article or try out your service one time. Let’s not get too familiar.

2. AUTO PLAY

Anything that autoplays is an abuse. The site is doing something that you didn’t give consent to. Perhaps it’s a minor annoyance to most people, but if you’re minding each kilobyte, a video that autoplays while you’re reading an article is a headache.

Also, people don’t open just one tab when they’re online – it’s a pain to go through a dozen or so open tabs just to find that one page that suddenly blasts an annoying song. If your content is relevant to me, I’d find the time and the patience to click and wait for your video to load. Don’t waste my precious bandwidth.

3. AREA RESTRICTIONS

I’m not from the fictional land of Narnia, so when a site tells me I can’t view their video because it’s restricted on the country where I’m viewing it from, it leaves me flabbergasted. Some websites do this for business considerations but do they honestly think this can stop the user if he’s really interested? The only thing it does it to push the viewer into… less reputable websites (cough-torrent-cough). In this age of interconnectivity and share-everything mentality of social media, area restrictions are sad, ultimately ineffectual practice.

4. FREE STUFF YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR

Look, man – we’re both adults here. If your link tells me your software is free and upon installation it suddenly demands a product key that I need to pay for – I’m not going to shell out a single cent. I’m not dumb, and what’s more, I hate being played for a fool. If you’re selling, sell. Don’t waste my time and bandwidth by pretending to be what you’re not.

5. THE SEEN ZONE

It’s useful – to an extent. But I dread the time when my son would have to agonize seeing this notification, and receiving a late – or worse, nothing at all – response. Adolescence is hard enough; at least in my time, I had the luxury of false hope. Having solid proof that you’re being ignored is another brutal way teens can hurt themselves.

6CRAPPY TELCO SERVICE

We have a country with the most overpriced data charges and slowest internet speed, and a government that does nothing about it. Numerous international studies have affirmed repeatedly that a robust, high-speed internet connection is necessary to advance not only our economy but also the education of our children, and yet, we are abused – day by day – by our telco providers. Both Smart and Globe are plagued by complaints of inability to deliver the levels of service that they promised, overpricing, and shoddy customer support, yet no solution has been provided. As customers, we are left with no viable alternative to these two telco giants.

7. DIVIDED WE CRAWL

Just because I like the playstation does not mean I need to hate the XBox. Someone watching GMA’s Aldub is not required to hate Showtime. A person who thinks that homosexual couples should have the same civic rights as heterosexual couples is not automatically a spawn of Satan.

It happens in real life too, but due to the anonymous nature of the internet, everyone online is more combative. The general atmosphere of exclusivity – ‘if you’re not with me then you’re against me’ – is not only stupidly juvenile, it also lowers the overall discourse. Picking sides are for team games, not on real life.

8. INABILITY TO DISAGREE WELL

Mature individuals have learned how to disagree without fighting. They know how to consider opposing perspectives and welcome the chance for their worldviews to expand through facts contrary to what they believe. They challenge ideas, not the person carrying the ideas, and have enough emotional strength to admit when they are wrong.

Sadly, these individuals are rare on the internet. Most of the time, people are absurdly defensive about their opinions – as if proving one’s superiority in arguments actually brings real change. As a group, we have to learn better on how to argue online.

9. CYBER BULLYING

Social Justice Warriors (SJWs) abound on the internet – or at least, people who pounce on people who they think did something wrong – would like to think so. For some reason, we are incredibly quick to assign blame, to burn the accused, to crucify the evildoers even without knowing the whole story. In this age of instant gratification, we have no patience for knowing the contrasting side, for considering the context. We see a video clip, an unconfirmed report, and our mouths are frothing to pronounce judgment.

10. THE STYLIZED LIFE

It’s natural to want to present an attractive snapshot of your life on social media – we all do it: from choosing the photo with the best angle to post on Instagram, the seventh draft of a 140-character tweet that you want to be insightful yet funny, to the oh-so-interesting status updates we post on Facebook.

The problem lies when that’s all we pursue. I personally know people who go to awe-inspiring places just to take selfies then completely ignore the majesty around them; people who post passionate pleas for reform and social justice, yet never help out the beggar on the street; people who post videos of them taking the ice-bucket challenge without sending support to the ALS Association (not even knowing what the ALS is). If all we want is to have an aspirational image, we won’t bother with real self-improvement.