The use and misuse of the internet have been a major conversation point for many in society. While the use of social media has given us the benefit of making the world seem much smaller by leading to more cultural exchanges, the dark side of the moon stands with the increase in the consumption of violent content that desensitizes us. An issue that was recently tackled by Joe Rogan and his guest Matt Walsh in the latest edition of the Joe Rogan Experience.

Walsh, a popular face on YouTube, talked about how easy it has become to find violent videos on the internet and how desensitized many have become that they simply scroll through them like they’re consuming basic everyday content. This led Rogan to bring up Twitter, a platform that has become infamous for the number of toxic users on the site.

The UFC commentator claimed that staying behind the computer and being toxic has been the root cause of it all. Since similar behavior observed in person would’ve surely led to violent results. “It’s like Twitter in that it’s not a full experience. The full experience—if you were having the kind of exchanges that some people have with each other, where they’re just ruthlessly insulting and being sh*tty to people—if you’re having those in person, there’s a high probability that it would lead to violence.”

He further added that the internet overall is causing a change in our mindset. The ability to have ‘nasty interactions’ while consuming content that may make a normal human squeamish is “probably really, really bad for us.” Walsh tried to explain the real phenomenon by calling it a ‘trauma’ that is being experienced by all the users online. “What it does, I don’t even think we quite understand what it’s doing to our minds. I actually think we are all traumatized from it, and I don’t use the word trauma loosely.”

By now, toxicity has become the norm on the internet, especially on social media platforms and within the online gaming community. So this isn’t the first time that Rogan has tried to bring light to the topic. The last time he talked about it, he tried to tackle the most widespread solution often provided by many, to remove the anonymity from the platforms.

Back when Joe Rogan rejected the major solution to internet trolling

During an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience with his guest Chris Harris, his guest revealed that he had gotten rid of his social media platforms due to the constant trolling he has suffered online while being a part of the show, ‘Top Gun.’ Something that made the UFC commentator reveal the ultimate truth that all these trolls crave is attention. Stop giving them the attention, and they will stop at some point. But while many claim that social media sites should not let one stay anonymous or create fake accounts to keep hidden from the public, Rogan believes otherwise.

The JRE host emphasized that while anonymity has its banes, it too has its own boons. One of them is having the option to be a whistleblower. He said, “I hope that’s not the case, but probably yeah. I think they would like to do that. In America, yeah, you know, but I think it’s important for whistleblowers; it’s important for, you know, people that work in an organization they want to expose corruption. They want to expose something. They want to expose some illegal thing they’re doing in regards to the environment. It’s very important you have to have…they want to expose the government; it’s very important to allow people to be anonymous.”

Social hacktivist groups such as Anonymous have gained a cult reputation for blowing the cover on major controversial activities surrounding businesses and the government. Something that couldn’t have been possible if the internet was completely censored and monitored. But what do you think? What solutions would you suggest? Let us know in the comments.