The internet is a double-edged sword in so many ways. For every positive, there is a negative. For every amazing story or experience someone has, there’s at least one negative story to counter that. Online communities, especially, are like that. While I’ve found a few fantastic online spots that have led to me making some fantastic friends, so many more of my online experiences have been awful.
Hofstra University’s “Fizz” community is very much like this. For the unfamiliar, Fizz is an app that is similar in ways to Reddit but specifically designed for campus communities. While I’ve had some good times scrolling through Fizz, whether that’s from finding funny memes or having actual conversations, it is a very toxic platform. So much of the front page is devoted to either putting people down or complaining about Hofstra. I’m the first person to admit this school’s shortcomings, but it’s tiring to open the app and see post after post about how much someone hates their ex or about someone’s latest issue with the university.
This is a problem I’ve seen way beyond Hofstra. As someone with several interests varying from music, sports, television and movies, I’ve struggled to find a community that has had a healthy discourse about the topics.
One such community is, infamously, the “Star Wars” fan community. While “Star Wars” fans have been a divided bunch for decades now, internet communities becoming more popular and the release of the sequel trilogy has made “Star Wars” fandom one of the most notoriously toxic groups on and off the internet. In the specific instance of “Star Wars,” not only are most communities miserable to be a part of, but they have caused massive damage to the lives of actors. Kelly Marie Tran, who played Rose Tico in the sequel trilogy, was harassed by “fans” so badly that she deleted all her social media posts.
Even beyond this horrible incident, being active in these communities is impossible unless you share the exact opinions of the majority. I’m no fan of the sequel trilogy, but when I receive dozens of dislikes due to pointing out a solid aspect of one of the movies, things have gone too far. Star Wars communities oftentimes are echo chambers, which see dissenting opinions buried.
As a new professional wrestling fan, I have recently been introduced to the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC). The IWC is a truly baffling corner of the World Wide Web. There are several subsects of wrestling fans: those who are loyal to one or a few wrestlers, those who are loyal to only one company and those who prioritize in-ring work above all else. This makes for a baffling online experience which most often is filled with fighting. I learned very quickly to ignore the IWC to preserve my enjoyment of professional wrestling. Despite trying to tune out the noise, I still often hear about the community melting down and devolving into constant arguments about events such as Jey Uso winning the Royal Rumble.
Internet communities have given me some of my best friends on Earth, but I have also had so many more miserable experiences in these online communities. Nearly everyone who has spent any time on the internet has dealt with this, and I recommend that anyone who is in a toxic online community to take a step back, it may just increase your enjoyment of your favorite things.
