On why we must teach people how to use the internet.

The internet is one of the sole places we can go where everything is free of control. There are no police patrolling, there is very little censorship and most importantly, no one is monitoring what you do on the internet, or how long you're on the internet for. It's a very personal space, where you can roam freely and indulge in whatever your heart desires - regardless of ethical measure.

We have never been trained or taught how to consume the internet and yet many of us spend more hours of the day online than we do engaging with the world surrounding. This is very alarming to me. Clearly, these indulgent habits have consequences and are effecting our everyday ability to interact in the real world.

Already we see people becoming disinterested, drawing away from conversations to look for something intriguing online (news, sports, blogs, email). We also privately track and follow people's lives (facebook, foursquare, twitter) - from their geographic locations, to the social relationships they share. We can even tune into people's thoughts, feelings, emotional states and vulnerabilities.

Growing up in the real world, we've been brought up with conversational etiquette and we're forced to show our face in everyday situations. We know it's impolite not to respond to other's inquiries or comments. We do our best to put our best face forward, regardless of what we're really thinking or feeling inside. Now suddenly our online lives allow us to duck away from these social responsibilities - we hide behind the internet, lurking through people's lives, responding only when personally motivated to do so, knowing no one is there to judge, say or do anything about our virtual habits.

I fear we, for the most part, are not yet equipped to handle freedoms granted by the internet. I fear it can lead to conceit, greed, introversion, perversion and other forms of emotional and psychological impairment.

Here is a perfect example of an internet user who is ill equipped for internet usage. This 11 year old girl hangs out online, in chatrooms and on forums, flaunting her engaging personality:

Like one-on-one conversations, video posts incite response and, in this particular case, led people to respond with crass videos, bullying with name-calling and threatening with violence. Users circulated her private information online, crank called her house, sent pizza deliveries to her address. Eventually, she cracked and broadcasted this emotional breakdown:

Quite obviously, this is an example of a generation too young, immature and irresponsible to be using the internet in such ways. Nonetheless, children of this age are highly involved with and using the internet all the time. And let's be honest, a vast majority of the population probably isn't anymore mature and/or responsible than this example.

All this is to say that people are very involved with their internet lives. They put a lot of time, effort and emotion into them. We need to be aware of the time and energy people are investing into their internet lives. It is imperative that create platforms that promote positive responses to such personal investment.

I believe we need to build web structures that allow people to use the internet as a means of organizing, maintaining and creating purpose in our real lives. Online reality and everyday reality must interact and co-exist positively.

My project aims to teach people how to project their lives into the internet responsibly, all while promoting and expanding on personal experience. Ultimately, I hope to create an online platform that allows for users to market themselves with aims to find opportunities and employment in the areas they are most passionate about.