The good things on the internet

More and more, the internet can feel like a miserable, soul-sucking machine that takes far more than it gives. So much of it is a hoax, or blown out of proportion -- if any of it is real at all. Some theorize online spaces are run almost entirely by bots. The humanity of social media seems to have been stripped away. Nothing matters. There's no point.

Except this could not be further from the truth. Yes, a lot has changed online over the last 15 years. Things aren't quite what they used to be. It's hard to tell what and who is genuine and what (and who) is fake. It can often feel aw though you are screaming into a void. All sometimes seems lost.

That is, until you start looking for the good things on the internet. The stories of people helping people. The videos of good deeds performed with no expectation of favors returned. The kindness. The reminders of hope, that things aren't all bad everywhere all the time.

Yes, these things are hard to find now. And even when you do, there is always that small part of you that will question whether or not what you are seeing is real. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. If it lifts your spirits, even for a moment, does it really even matter?

The internet does not have to be the place where you go to doom scroll, where hope goes to suffocate. It can be a means of escape in a way that actually fills you with a sense of purpose. What that means for you is for you to decide. Cat videos. Videos of people falling off things without getting hurt too badly. Parents sharing stories of the weird things their kids say. If it's not hurting anyone, and it brings you joy, maybe that's enough.