Most games are sold out already, I waited over 6 hours in the queue since the presale website launched yesterday after a huge struggle to not get IP blocked and actually get the page loaded. Not a positive experience at all. By 10pm last night most games had only cat 1 & cat 2 left. Crazy, the devs could have developed a better working system for this. My friend waited 2 hours only, we stay literally 15 minutes apart, went online at the same time. Makes no sense đ
@frenchy_nz@rugbyworldcup Same mate. Go to your email link and try again. You have to disable ALL security and privacy settings on your browser. Mobile might have more luck than home or business wifi. I got these answers using Gemini AI. I got the page open at 11.30am, I'm still waiting hours later.
Does the internet make us worse as a species? Itâs a question Iâve wrestled with for years, staring at toxic comment threads, outrage cycles, and the endless scroll of division.
The temptation is to blame the internet for breaking usâturning us into crueller, greedier, more isolated versions of ourselves. But the truth is messier and more human: the internet didnât create our flaws or our virtues. Itâs the most powerful amplifier weâve ever built, magnifying every facet of who we areâgood, bad, and everything in between.
Greed, Supercharged
Human greed predates the internet by centuries. Con artists once charmed their way through small towns; pyramid schemes thrived in whispered deals. The internet didnât invent avariceâit industrialized it. A single phishing scam can now target millions in an instant, and ransomware can paralyze hospitals from continents away. The tools are new, but the impulse is ancient.
Conflict, Scaled Up
Tribalism and propaganda are as old as empires. Spies once rifled through filing cabinets; governments broadcast lies via radio towers. Now, the internet turns information warfare into a global, instantaneous game. Disinformation campaigns slip into your feed, tailored to your biases. Ideological tribes no longer need pamphletsâthey have X, recruiting and radicalizing with a single viral post. The internet didnât birth division; it gave every faction a megaphone.
Cruelty, Unleashed
The schoolyard bully, the gossip, the poison-pen letter writerâthese archetypes are timeless. Whatâs new is the internetâs frictionless cruelty. Behind anonymous handles, the âOnline Disinhibition Effectâ lets people hurl insults theyâd never dare say face-to-face. A single cruel tweet can spiral into a doxing campaign by hundreds of strangers. The internet didnât create sadism; it built a stage where it performs without consequence.
Connection, Fractured
The internet promised to connect us, yet it often leaves us lonelier. Algorithms, chasing engagement, learn our fears and biases, trapping us in echo chambers where extreme views feel like consensus. As one X user put it, weâre âalone while feeling we arenât.â The internet didnât invent alienation, but itâs perfected the art of making us feel righteously isolated, together.
The Flip Side: Amplifying the Good
Itâs not all grim. The same internet that scales greed also amplifies generosityâcrowdfunding saves lives, connecting strangers to fund surgeries or disaster relief. The same platforms that fuel tribalism enable marginalized voices to find solidarity. The internetâs power to amplify isnât inherently bad; itâs neutral, reflecting our choices back at us.
The Mirror We Built
Blaming the internet is easy, but itâs a cop-out. As another X user noted, people are âmeaner onlineâ because the internet strips away the social guardrails of face-to-face life. Yet those meanness'sâgreed, cruelty, divisionâwere always there. The internet is a mirror, showing us our collective character with brutal clarity. Itâs not the villain; itâs us, magnified.
But hereâs the catch: the internetâs design isnât innocent. Algorithms reward outrage, and lax moderation on platforms like X can amplify the worst voices. This isnât just reflectionâitâs exploitation of our flaws for profit. Still, the root problem remains human nature, not the tool itself.
What We Can Do
If the internet is a mirror, we canât smash it and expect our flaws to vanish. Theyâd just find slower, older ways to surface. Instead, we need to face the reflection and act:
Learn to Pause: Before sharing that viral post, check its source. Critical thinking is our shield against disinformation.
Demand Better Design: Push platforms to prioritize connection over outrageâless algorithmic echo, more human moderation.
Amplify the Good: Share stories of kindness, fund a cause, or join an online community that builds rather than tears down.
Own Our Choices: The internet amplifies us, but we decide what to feed itâempathy or anger, bridge-building or tribalism.
The internet hasnât made us worse. Itâs made us louder, faster, and more exposed. The question isnât whether itâs a curse or a giftâitâs how weâll use this mirror to become better versions of ourselves.
What will you reflect on today?
$BTC prices held steady above the $27,000 level Friday even as broader financial markets showed mixed movements. By @shauryamalwa.
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The event team and partners for #RedBullDefiance. Such a great group of people to be working with. Been a challenging weekend with lots of rain storms but nothing will stop us. đȘ We've got wiiings đ„