Let's see what's on the internet today...

A lot of us, especially those in my generation, take the internet for granted. We use it for mindless entertainment like pictures of grumpy cats or outrageous prank videos, and we never really think about how it was started or how lucky we are that its creator (Tim Berners-Lee) decided to make it free rather than monetize it. In her video, HISTORY OF THE INTERNET - THE VIRTUAL REVOLUTION - EP. 1, Aleks Krotoski explains to viewers how the internet was the gateway to "The Great Leveling" of humanity. In short, the internet essentially puts everyone on the same level of things despite wealth, nationality, etc. I agree with Krotoski's findings, and I think this concept hasn't changed too much in today's version of the internet.

In my free time I like to browse the website Reddit. To those who are unfamiliar to the site, it's essentially a online newspaper you can customize to show you sub-sections from world news to pictures of birds with human arms photo-shopped on them. I'm not kidding. Anyways, on the internet, everyone is mostly on the same level. I say mostly because I think some people have more power than others through reputation or paid-services. However, those with power are greatly outnumbered by the general masses. These general masses (us, the people) have a lot of power on the internet. As an online lurker, I've seen incredible things happen quickly, like the fall of a company within 24 hours because of internet users like us spreading news across the world. We also have websites like 4chan (which I will not link, go visit it on your own time) that can coordinate attack against websites and big companies to steal information that the people need to know about. Today, I think the internet has evolved into something that can become potentially dangerous to "the establishment" as more and more people begin to understand its inner mechanisms. As much as I love the internet as it is now, I have a feeling that sometime in the next couple of years, the governments of the world will begin to see it as a a threat and attempt to strictly regulate it. I mean, look at our presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who had her private email account hacked and could potentially be indicted because of it. The internet has evolved into a powerful anti-establishment tool, far greater than it has ever been since its creation. We know what's going around all across the world, we can catch politicians in their lies by simply googling a video or speech they had given a few months prior, and we can make significantly beneficial changes towards movements via re-tweeting and donating. We're living at the peak of the wild west years of the internet guys, enjoy it while it lasts.