A Safer Internet Is Good For All! Let's Change.

“The internet is here, the internet is great” sang the British YouTubers Dan and Phil at their World Tour shows. After all, it is what has employed them for the past ten years.

The internet is an amazing place for all those who want to positively explore new genres and to learn something interesting. A place where we can be ourselves, a place to find people with similar viewpoints and create new friends who care and support us like our real friends. Memes and GIFs have become the new source of happiness in our hectic lives.

But just like there are two sides to every coin, the internet has its dark side too.

Cyber bullying

Cyber bullying is one of the most pressing problems today. By misusing the anonymity that internet provides, online bullies might try to take advantage of you, steal your personal information, or harass or threaten you. Today kids online are facing this threat the most. It is prevalent in social networking and messaging sites. It has also gone to the extent where people have committed suicides and now governments around the world are taking stricter actions. One of the main precautions that one can take is to not put our personal details on the internet. Most trustworthy people and companies won't ask for this type of information online. So if others do, it's a red flag that they may be up to no good.

One of the main precautions that one can take is to not put our personal details on the internet.

Internet Trolling

Also, harassing the other person just because one does not agree with their ideas and views is also a trend. What we all need to understand is that we need to respect other people’s views. Even if, we don’t agree it doesn’t mean we need to be rude. We can also put forward our viewpoints and opinions politely without hurting the other person’s feelings.

The internet is the best place to collaborate, learn and create new and amazing content for the world to see, to portray our talents and entertain. It has grown more than ever before and it is in our hands whether to use it for the good or not because it has the power to bring the world together.

Malavika Nambiar is a student of SNDT university, Usha Mittal Institue of Technology, Mumbai and this effort is a part of Google India and SheThePeople initiative Digital Trust Dialogues across colleges in India.

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