We all know that the Internet can be a wondrous place but it can also be dark and deceptive, and in this series we speak to people who have been on the dark end of the Internet and what that has meant for their lives, and how easily any of us could also fall into the trap.

Web of Make Believe looks at lots of different ways in which people can use the Internet for bad reasons, including people who send swat teams to streamers’ houses under the guise that they have kidnapped or killed someone just to get their reaction on stream, as well as someone who becomes alt-right just because her then boyfriend was, as well as women who have had sexually explicit pictures used against them for blackmail by people who they haven’t even met.

Each episode follows a new story so you really get to understand a whole range of what the Internet can mean for some people and how disastrous and dark it can be too. I especially love the streamer episode, the first one, because that was something that I never even thought of or would think that people would do. Sending swat teams and the FBI to peoples’ houses while they’re streaming to see them get arrested is such a ridiculous idea but the fact that it actually happens in a community online is terrifying because it could easily happen to any one of us, and if, as we saw in the episode things turn deadly, it could change your life forever.

I grew up with the Internet, I was part of a generation where the Internet was just coming into its own and I’m older than basically all social media websites so to see the world change from people riding their bikes with their friends in the street and going home when the street lights came on to suddenly all playing online games like Roblox and Fortnite and no longer having that in person experience is really scary but also fascinating because of how quickly the world has changed. The fact that people are becoming more online savvy means that they could be more clued up to the dangers of the Internet, but also for them to harm themselves because they don’t understand the ramifications of sharing everything online and having that there for the rest of their lives.

This show is really interesting and as I said it shows you many different aspects of the Internet that people should be aware of. Any of these things could easily happen to any of us with the right tools and we just have to be mindful of what we’re putting online, how people are interpreting it and using it, and really think about the consequences of what we’re doing and how that could affect us in the future.

What do you think of Web of Make Believe?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding