Is the Internet Worth Saving?

'm not sure how you feel, but after a quarter century of being chronically online I’m tired of the internet. Most days it’s a lot of drivel, toxicity, and negative emotion. Sometimes I put my phone down after scrolling my feeds and I feel icky.

- By CARL JAVIER

Maybe I am an old man screaming at clouds, reminiscing about the early days of the internet when we believed in “sharing economies”, the power of social networks (before social media of course), when we saw message boards, blogs, and micro-blogging as democratizing forces, timelines meant to help you keep in touch with your friends as opposed to endless algorithmically-driven feeds; honestly I could go on.

In my “shakes fist at today’s internet” despair, I stumbled upon a post on IG from Sigla Research Center that advocated for the potential of online spaces. It gave me hope, providing a way forward for online engagement.

My feelings are valid

I got to sit down with Ferdinand Sanchez II, the Head of Public Engagement at Sigla and a researcher on disinformation and deliberative democracy. He explained that, “Sigla is a third space for various sectors like academics, activists, civil society organizations, and even the public,” where the goal is to “reflect on our current sociopolitical realities and work collectively toward a flourishing and healthy public sphere...”