Cowards of the Internet

Being a coward on the Internet is not about hiding or running away, as it might in the real world. Cowards can stand in plain sight using words to hide from the truth.

Truth is not a selective thing. It is determined through s process, a series of examined bits of evidence that comes out to a balance, one way or the other, in the end. The truly brave and courageous will embrace both sides of an argument grant the merits of both, incorporate changes along the way and accept the result.

The internet today is populated by too few of these brave people. The common approach is to build an argument predicated on a predetermined conclusion - the answer before the argument.

For example, writing about how the internet, society, government or media hate a particular social,  religious or racial group is easy if you ignore all or part of the evidence. Saying something unpopular isn't brave or courageous if  the argument is bias or incomplete.

We like to think that the internet has made us all journalists of one sort or another. But journalism without responsibility or credibility is nothing more than opinion.  The internet has made very few journalists and way too many of us simply noisy.

Hiding behind unsubstantiated information, presumption, subjective bias and rumor - no matter unique or representative is not valid, it is cowardly.