Homosexuality Across The World Wide Web

               After its launching in the mid 1990's, the internet was almost instantly stereotyped as a global pornography network. Much of this was based on the mediums extremely open and free spirit. Within that nearly two decades time the internet has grown from a noisy and difficult to use medium into something that is part of our daily lives. Of course I am using it to write this as we speak. In the here and now the internet is similarly serving LGBTQ people in a similar fashion that the minstrel show did with African American's over a century earlier: almost as a form of cyber burlesque in which both "gay" and "straight" people can understand,and misunderstand one another.

         My own personal experience with LGBTQ related media on the web was through Gay.com,the oldest LGBTQ related website available that started as a chat room before I was on the internet at all. By the time of my own use of the sight, it was providing news and information for socially aware homosexuals and was the first place where I heard the term LGBTQ in the first place. Over the course of time Gay.com has returned somewhat to its status as a chat oriented website-with its news and information area something one has to look a bit harder for.

        However the same difficulties facing homosexuals offline have found their way online. Even universal social media sites such as Facebook have a tendency to become all too easy a forum for homosexual people,often those discontent with their own lives, to create difficulty for other homosexual people who they should be all measures be supportive of. This negative behavior,based on my own experience,runs the gamut from idol ignorance of said people's daily site posts to out and out verbal harassment. 

        Personally, my own personal use of the internet in terms of LGBTQ issues have to do with exactly what I am doing now: online activism that is positively executed through blogging and comments I make on sociopolitical oriented memes on social networks that I'm involved in. There are a whole group of people who are still convinced the internet is nothing like real life,and nothing on it has a lasting effect on the world. Especially in cases such as with LGBTQ people and groups, the internet is real life. It tells real stories-some nice,others that have been warped into cheapness such as hookup sites such as Manhunt and WardZero. As with anything,the internet will make a good or bad difference depending on what one does with it.