Why Do We Care?

     As someone that does have a passion for videogames, I obviously pay close attention to reveals from Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and any other company (still pulling for another Dreamcast). With Microsoft's Xbox One reveal, a lot of new information was immediately thrown upon us, as well as a new controversy for the Internet to get all kinds of upset with. Now I won't go into the details, since that isn't the point of this post, but it is easy to say that people are upset. This isn't the first time the Internet has blown up over something, especially videogame related, but I had a bit of an epiphany moment. As I was getting upset over comments that I disagreed with and thinking of possible ways to retort, a simple question went through my mind, "Why the hell do I care? Why do I care so deeply about the opinions of complete strangers? I will most likely NEVER meet these people in the real world, so why do their words (texts) cause such an emotional response?"

     I believe a lot of it stems from the fact that the Internet is indeed bleeding over into reality. This is natural since we are becoming more dependent upon it, but like anything else that becomes a part of everyday living, it brings good and bad. Sadly, one of the bad things it brings is the way we are effected by what others say when it actually should have no effect on us. No matter how connected forums, social media, and other sites may try to connect us, the fact is that unless you've met the person and got to know them outside of the virtual world, they are strangers. In fact, I don't believe calling them strangers quite sums up what they are because a stranger implies that you actually saw them. This is at least how I view a stranger; someone that I saw but did not recognize or know from a previous time. With the Internet, that person may as well be fictional because no matter how "thorough" sites may claim to be, it is WAY too easy to create a completely fake person and life. All you need is a little creativity and any image search engine and you're good. I don't state this to seem overly negative, but to hopefully help people establish perspective. Just as we have to always remember that movies, shows, and videogames are fictional so that we don't begin to blur reality with fiction, we have to remember that "knowing" someone on the Internet is NOTHING like knowing someone in real life. It may sound like common sense, but it may surprise you the lack of people that are unaware of this.

     Another reason we let comments get to us, I believe, stems from the fact that we don't have anything truly weighing us down. What I mean by this is that for the majority of us on the Internet, we are in industrialized countries that are not going through issues such as civil war, disease, or constant terror. With a lack of serious problems, we find more gravity to things like Internet comments that if we took a second to step back, we would realize that it doesn't mean much at all. It is also worth noting that should any of us go through a bad time in our lives, we suddenly tend to stop caring about Internet comments, which further proves my point that when it comes to the big picture, we should not care what others on the Internet say.

     Now this is not a reason to become a tool online. We should try to be as civil as possible even though children trying to act tough does make this difficult, I know from experience. The point of this is that we should make sure our priorities are in order. So, for instance, if you like what the Xbox One has to offer and looking forward to what else is revealed, then don't let "Internet Strangers" bring you down with their views. If you disagree, then of course you can tell them how you feel, but just don't let it get to you. The real world has plenty of things that are out of your control trying to bring you down. The experience you have in the virtual world is 98%, give or take, under your control, so why should you be brought down there as well?