NEITHER FRIEND NOR FOE

The Internet is neither my friend nor my foe, but it is the means to influence the masses for good or bad. The Internet is an open resource of information as well as disinformation, giving people without responsibility the power to destroy without fear of retribution. Hiding behind a pseudonym and throwing out unsubstantiated derogatory comment is now the facility of the masses, which makes the Internet a place where people can ruin lives and reputations at will.

Bad news has always had the facility to travel ten times as fast as good news, so once someone decides to make comments on the Internet about you, unfortunately those are the ones people take notice of. No smoke without fire. This is a massive tool to be used for adverse ends by those who have more sinister motives as well as those who have idle jealous hands.

Over the years I've had a number of smear campaigns launched against me throwing as much dirt my way as possible. One time I was producing a film using college students with cameras on a profit share basis. Unfortunately I can't employ everyone but I know the value of experience early on in your career so I would and always have tried to help people where I could. Some individuals took exception to this, feeling I was taking advantage of young people. It's my time and their choice but now people have the habit of crying wolf because they can ...woof woof.

The next was a huge campaing on a government grant situation for businesses. We placed fifty people in jobs around West London but yet again the idiots who work on sites and forums as moderators ran a complete discussion on the project without any reasonable understanding of the subject. The trouble with throwing mud is it ends up as mud which sticks rightly or wrongly. 

Getting things taken down from the Internet is virtually impossible, so whatever gets posted gets hosted, mainly by people who are not the brightest tools in the box, and unfortunately if you're ignorant it's very difficult to admit to yourself you are. Becoming a moderator on a site means you haven't got a life, you need a voice to give yourself importance. I remember writing to one and getting the comment "I don't care, you deserve it because your in business." not exactly impartial thoughts.

The last time was over a late change of venue of all things, well that's got to be bad hasn't it. But yet again people want to think there's something odd going on...it's called running a business which actually isn't wrong, but the acquisition of money is to some always is a dubious pursuit.

Just recently one of the presenters from the BBC's flagship investigative program was jailed for £25k benefit fraud claimed while he was making the series lifting the lid on shady practices. The world is becoming a very strange place where the lines of brick throwing into glass houses are becoming very fuzzy indeed.