All Aboard the Good Ship "Safe Internet Use"

I've been meaning to do something on this for a good long while, but in light of recent events to hit the news, this post seems all the more relevant. It's on one thing, and one thing only: how to use the internet in three easy steps.

Step one: Don't put any personal information out there. To anyone. That means addresses and numbers, hometowns and the like. Doesn't matter how long you've known them, I've known a group of people on the internet for a good six or seven months. We follow each other on twitter and instagram, and some skype each other, but it goes no further than that. Do not put information out there that could be dangerous to you.

Step two: Do not put personal stuff on the internet. This is different from personal information, this is about things personal to you - how you feel, if you're depressed, unstable, suicidal. People can use that against you, and the wrong people will use it. The same goes for photos: they could end up anywhere, and you probably won't find out.

Step three: Enjoy the internet. Find sites that you feel comfortable on and use them, BUT if you're on a sight that is making you unhappy, do not stay on that site. At the end of the day, it's your choice to be on there, and it can be hard to break out of a habit, but if the thought of going onto a site makes you unhappy, just don't go on it.

Step three is kind of the most important to be honest. What happened recently is a terrible thing, it is, and there is no way to explain how terrible it is, but: it is at the end of the day, your choice to be on the internet. Trolls don't have a hold over you, you don't have to do anything for them, if you just step away. You get days where you have no creativity, or you don't want to talk to people, and you just want to punch things viciously and throw things. That's okay. I've had days like that, when I've received anon hate. I did two things: I stepped away from the computer and I had my melt down. Sure, I ended up forking out £20 because I smashed up some candles, but that's better than damaging my skin, or my life. And the second thing I did: I turned off the anon option. I took a few days out, gained perspective again, and took away the trolls one route to me.

People who call for the internet to be moderated forget one thing: you can't expect 180 people to man 6 million blogs or whatever. It's not fair. The internet is a great place, but it's also a horrible place. Times have changed, people need to wake up and smell the coffee. It isn't the place of the people running the sites to teach you how to behave - it's your place. To use the internet safely, people need to be calm, considerate and use it with intelligence and common sense.

As soon as there's a cultural shift, then maybe, just maybe people will stop calling for the same out dated arguments, and start realizing that our safety on the internet is down to only one person. Ourselves.