A Word On The Internet

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”

—Matthew 7:1

A word on the internet: I love you, dear internet. I love that I can learn things and stay connected to people and buy things with one click. But now every time I buy something, I get a follow-up email asking me to “rate my experience.” Um, I ordered diapers and then they came. Seriously? A review?

I’m certainly not the first one to point out the ugliness of a culture that wants to rate every experience just immediately after it happened. It seems very cool and democratic to give every person with an internet connection an equal vote on a restaurant or a movie or a book, but over time I think this leads to a culture of unchecked and unaccountable criticism. In the same way that we’re in danger of posting what we’re doing on Facebook instead of actually doing that thing we’re doing, I think we’re in danger of thinking that constantly evaluating and rating things is an innocuous practice. And I don’t think it is. I think that mindset is corrosive and dangerous over time.

When we become too accustomed to rating and evaluating every single thing, right as it’s happening, we start to lose our ability to enjoy things for their imperfections, and we don’t allow space for unexpected joys.