darkSpyro

catch yourself having a very terminally online take on something. i don't even remember what it was in my case, but last week this happened to me. i was like, "ok thunder, time to take a step back"

i think honestly it's because since 2020, i've had to use the internet more in order to interact with people. i never really wanted to be this online in the first place, but for the time being, it feels somewhat nonnegotiable. i originally started using social media with my own accounts in 2018 because i realized i was very isolated and wanted to start figuring out how to connect with people. so i'm not entirely against having to use the internet so much to socialize with others.

but seeing myself having weird opinions because i saw someone post a thing on twitter while they were on the toilet is a little scary. i'm glad i at least caught myself so i know to start being more careful

can i hear an example i think i know what u mean but i don't want to type up something dumb lol

Yeah mainly political stuff, there was once a period a time where I was really sick of a lot of lefty politics online and started only watching Vaush/Hasan lmao. Now I can't stand either of them. Taking a break from a lot of the more politically charged places like parts of Twitter helped immensely, I now only follow video game/art related stuff and unfollow any artists that spam political opinions. Like even if I agree with them it's just not worth the mental energy to be mad at someone/something all the time.

no in fact

nothing on the internet for whatever reason has ever had the ability to alter my opinion on something i am a very independent minded person and my brain refutes the opinions and influence of others in a peer induced kind of way i shy away from saying that you know... on the internet because i fear tha tit comes off like "you guys all suck you dont matter and i really dont care what you think" which is not what i mean at all you guys is cool just for whateve reason my brain does not process internet knowledge the same way as it does most people

ive never had an attachment to social media never been into it i was a chatroom girl think 2chan 4chan yahoo messenger so on so forth and i come to the internet for funny pics and jokes and yeah to share my thoughts and listen to others but its all through a filter for me or a lens i think like i know inherently how to separate the internet from reality

this could possibly be how i grew up it was a very closed up environment i didnt have a phone until i was 17 i didnt use the internet until i was 11-12 i had no friends at all through my childhood and everything was very in your face if it was in your presence at all the internet when i was introduced to it was like a huge open world environment like a video game with a lot of NPCs i had/have a hard time connecting to and taking that seriously it wasnt until a horrible experience i had online and watching and hearing others be bullied by people that i was like whoa... this place is dangerous and not cool but it never effected me directly ina way i often came off to people as if i had some superhero power because i would swat people off of me so easy and no matter how much someone argued with me i could just keep it up or ignore it altogether

a grain of salt

thats what the internet is to me if it was done said or thought up on the internet i instinctually just react in the thought that these people are cray cray or the fact that they are so filled with hate or this unrelenting conviction to get whatever point is across to people on the internet to the point of harassing bothering following whatever people t makes the internet very much a place where i cannot connect

in short

no the internet is just a window into everyone elses thoughts that are better left unheard and to hear them to me is just to understand where someone else is coming from but other than that i have too independent of a person to let any of that leak out into my real life

I do feel some of those moments. I wish I had Lindsay's strength of keeping takes at an arm's length, but one too many times I've seen myself get caught up on drama that I don't know anything about just to be in the conversation.

oh god i know exactly what you mean now. yes i was a huge victim of this when i was around 14. especially political things and just random things in general i would have a certain opinion on but never think for myself. misinformation gets spread this way so bad. the internet is a toxic place it like forces you to have a certain viewpoint on something or else you’re WRONG. nowadays i try to think for myself before jumping on any bandwagons but sometimes i just don’t catch myself falling for it. like skylandersfan said i’ve also disconnected myself from all the political stuff because it’s too dividing and i’m just here for laughs bro not drama. i shudder when i remember back to my days of being obsessed with the “anti media” it made me such a nut

Quote: Thunderdragon14

oh god i know exactly what you mean now. yes i was a huge victim of this when i was around 14. especially political things and just random things in general i would have a certain opinion on but never think for myself. misinformation gets spread this way so bad. the internet is a toxic place it like forces you to have a certain viewpoint on something or else you’re WRONG. nowadays i try to think for myself before jumping on any bandwagons but sometimes i just don’t catch myself falling for it. like skylandersfan said i’ve also disconnected myself from all the political stuff because it’s too dividing and i’m just here for laughs bro not drama. i shudder when i remember back to my days of being obsessed with the “anti media” it made me such a nut

Yeah the reason why twitter and reddit are so one sided when it comes to political opinions is because opinions that are contrary to others get deleted or hidden when people start to target them. Its why I hate the like or upvoted features on the sites because it became "more likes = right". It becomes really apparent when somebody is restating someone else's opinions when they resort to name calling (_phobic) or rephrasing what someone else said to make them sound dumb.

The thing about political opinions is that when you first learn about them and participate in discussing it is that most of the time the amount of real life experience that someone has is very little. So naturally people are just gonna restate what someone says online. But as life goes on they gain more experience and those opinions change. This is why I hate how younger people view politics as an identification with the other side being dumb or evil.

I think it's because humans will never be able to feel exactly how other humans feel. Every one has a different story and environment while growing up. We then use our experiences in life and reflect it on others. This is why a lot of people say "back in my day" or "they don't deserve x because I dont". However when we do find someone with similar outlooks on life we get close to them in discussions and it becomes an echo chamber of sorts.

Quote: somePerson

Quote: Thunderdragon14

oh god i know exactly what you mean now. yes i was a huge victim of this when i was around 14. especially political things and just random things in general i would have a certain opinion on but never think for myself. misinformation gets spread this way so bad. the internet is a toxic place it like forces you to have a certain viewpoint on something or else you’re WRONG. nowadays i try to think for myself before jumping on any bandwagons but sometimes i just don’t catch myself falling for it. like skylandersfan said i’ve also disconnected myself from all the political stuff because it’s too dividing and i’m just here for laughs bro not drama. i shudder when i remember back to my days of being obsessed with the “anti media” it made me such a nut

Yeah the reason why twitter and reddit are so one sided when it comes to political opinions is because opinions that are contrary to others get deleted or hidden when people start to target them. Its why I hate the like or upvoted features on the sites because it became "more likes = right". It becomes really apparent when somebody is restating someone else's opinions when they resort to name calling (_phobic) or rephrasing what someone else said to make them sound dumb.

The thing about political opinions is that when you first learn about them and participate in discussing it is that most of the time the amount of real life experience that someone has is very little. So naturally people are just gonna restate what someone says online. But as life goes on they gain more experience and those opinions change. This is why I hate how younger people view politics as an identification with the other side being dumb or evil.

exactly bro U true. that's how i was when i was younger. i 100% believed and went along with whatever the political drama was at the time and the "right" opinion. but like you said, as i got older and i saw how the world actually functions my opinions have changed drastically. it doesn't necessarily make the opinion i had in the first place wrong, but i had no basis to even have that opinion at all. if someone made me explain WHY i felt the way i did, i wouldn't be able to. just that i saw it on tumblr. i hope the younger users on this site read your words of wisdom and follow it because it's such a damaging mindset. like mob mentality.

i dont know what this is worth coming from some who just... does it... but i have a sister was very much the opposite of me and although she would probably never admit it i helped her get over letting the views of people on the internet affect her although in that case it was mostly bullying stuff the same thing can kind of apply to the general scope of opinions and the affect it can have on your own thoughts esteem and opinions on things

the first thing that i think is important to point out is that those of you here who are able to acknowledge that you have been or can be influenced by these things should be something to acknowledge to yourself.if i do say so myself it already puts you at a higher standard than the people who are "influencing you" because those people are so wrapped up in those opinions and consumed by that side of internet culture that they hold that unique position of influence because thats just what they do and they cant acknowledge that they are also those who have been influenced and part of that pack mentality. acknowledge to yourself and give yourself the credit that your noticing at all of the affect it can have you gives you power over those people and over that influence.

a second note i gave was that using what you know or are good at to distance yourself. im a science girl not a feely type when it comes to opinions and facts aif i can prove my point with the science and facts behind it i have done it right. when you catch yourself in that feeling of forming an opinion based on what your seeing or reading and you take note of the moment "wait am i feeling this/thinking this because of what im reading right now? or because i actually think it" try to immediately use however you like to gather information to either prove or disprove how you feel about what you read. can you find the facts theyre saying? what about the argument against what theyre saying? for me like i said its the science i try to look up research papers for others it might be something like history or you prefer touching books maybe you like wikipedia who knows use something you actual like to give yourself a chance to both take in what these loud voices yelling at you to think a certain way are saying and also use it to give yourself a chance to see the opposite side of the view and find where you fall between either side of your line. maybe research is boring for you in general? perhaps convincing yourself to do it and giving yourself a reward as you do/as you complete your research could replace finding comfort in the means of research like giving yourself a snack you really like or playing a video game after you really like to encourage you into the habit of looking into things.

sometimes using a means youre comfortable with when you feel yourself in the act of "feeling a pressure to think a certain way"can train your brain to instead react with a desire to challenge the thought and build up your independence of thought.

so your thought goes from

everyone is saying this and that i should think like this ----> i identify with or like this group/political party/person/celebrity and this seems to be the "right" way to think

more to

everyone is saying this and that i should think like this ----> this has given me something to do and look into to add to my personal library of knowledge

the thought behind the process is it builds up an independence of thought that you condition your instinct to be to challenge what you have read with reason and facts instead of to cave into pressure and the more you do it the less your mind thinks "i should do this/think this too" the more it will fall into "lets look into this" as an initial reaction and eventually your brain will settle into a kind of protection from influence that is not under your direct control

again not sure if this will help anyone else but i helped my sister with it and a few others i would like to think before.

^ You mean me??

no no

Okay I was confused as ****, I was no joke about to tell you to shoot me a text about it because I couldn't remember what you were talking about, lol...

i like quagsire

^ The real question is, do you like anything but Quagsire?

I LIKE QUAGSIRE TOO

Quote: Erikatastrophe

^ The real question is, do you like anything but Quagsire?

no i like very little else in this mortal realm. do we live on earth? or are we already in hell?

is quagsire better than wooper tho?

Quote: LeewweewoowheeH

is quagsire better than wooper tho?

objectively yes but as the speaker of the quag we do recognize the holy woop

Quote: Vespi

objectively yes but as the speaker of the quag we do recognize the holy woop

This is quite possibly my favorite thing ever said on the site, as I am a huge Wooper fan myself.