By SHARMILA NAIR

alltherage@thestar.com.my

HAVE you ever stopped to think that if the Internet was a person, it would be the kind of friend our parents wished we never had?

It’ll be that one mischievous and intelligent friend who seems to know too much about everything; whose words we hang on to for our dear lives.

Or like that friend whom our parents suspect of encouraging us to ask questions that make them uncomfortable or do things they believe we wouldn’t usually do.

Guess what? They wouldn’t have been that far off the mark after all.

As much as we’d like to think the Internet is a good friend that has our best interest at heart, it is also that dangerous and reckless friend who doesn’t stop us from doing something bad.

Like indulging in sins.

Yes, while it may sound totally preachy, it unfortunately is the truth.

There are many ‘Internet sins’ (or as how we like to call it, Sinternets) we subconsciously commit online all the time.

Check out the seven cardinal sins – wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony – that also apply to the Internet and how we may have committed one, if not all, by doing something as simple as logging on to our Facebook accounts.

 

WRATH

How many times have we turned to the Internet to vent our anger and frustrations over our friends, colleagues, teachers, bosses and other people who are hell bent on making our lives miserable?

Yes, countless of times.

From profanity-laden Facebook statuses to throwing a hissy fit on a video promptly uploaded to YouTube to composing an angry entry on our personal blogs, we have unleashed our fury online.

Encouraged by the anonymity offered by the Internet, we also never think twice before leaving a scathing comment on a blog post or news piece just to show how angry we are at certain parties. For some, the internet is nothing but a punching bag.

Forgive me, for I have sinned:

“There are many times when I have scolded my friends on Facebook and Twitter. But they do the same, so I guess there’s no need to apologise over it,” Suhashini Velaiyah, 23.

“I have used my blog as a place to vent my anger. Although I change their names, I’m always scared that my bosses would know that I’m talking about them,” Diana Roslan, 23.

 

GREED

You know how we wait for a relative’s wedding or the festive season as an excuse to get together with family and friend to make a quick buck playing Black Jack?

Well, who needs to wait for that anymore when you can gamble with complete strangers on the Internet and make lots of money? Or lose, if you have no luck. Warning: Gambling is addictive and leads to no good.

Many blogshops also flourish because we have no discipline when it comes to dropping things into our online shopping cart.

Forgive me, for I have sinned:

“I just feel compelled to buy everything I see from those online blogshops. They make stuff seem so cheap but sometimes, they are not,” Natalie Yong, 18.

“The shopaholic in me is often so tempted to buy everything online, but most of the time it turns out disappointing because it was an impulse purchase,” Abigail Chhabra, 17.

 

SLOTH

The examination or deadline for an assignment is just hours away but what’s something as trivial as that stop us from watching the Charlie Bit My Finger video on YouTube for the umpteenth time?

The room is messy because it was last cleaned three months ago, but why should it be cleared when a photograph of it would get many ‘Likes’ from your friends on Facebook?

There are many instances when the Internet turns us into zombies in our own houses, making us unable to do anything but click the buttons on our computers.

Forgive me, for I have sinned:

“(When I’m online )I feel really lazy to do my homework even though I have absolutely nothing else to do,” Azri Ahmad, 19.

“There was once I didn’t bathe for at least three days because I was so engrossed playing an online game. It didn’t matter because I was living alone and no one could smell me,” Edmund Yeo, 24.

 

PRIDE

The Internet is really good at stroking our ego. What is Twitter for if not to announce to the world that you are sipping champagne next to a celebrity?

A TwitPic would then verify your story and for the next three days, you’ll be the topic of discussion among your friends. Mission accomplished.

We tend to let our pride run wild on the Internet, like when we show off our excellent exam result, post photographs of our new and expensive gadgets, talk about the all-expense paid trip around the world or simply act snobbish.

How many times have we posted a photograph on Facebook hoping it would get as many ‘Likes’ as possible from our friends?

The Internet has turned into a showcase where we proudly display all things nice and show off what we own.

Forgive me, for I have sinned:

“I am not shy about telling my friends about my working trips. It’s not my fault that they’re stuck working in their office all year long,” Nurul Huda Johari, 26.

“I feel so annoyed when I see ugly girls acting cute on Facebook. It spoils my mood,” Yoon Wei Bo, 19.

LUST

The Internet always has something we want but could never have in a million years. We spend countless hours on the Internet looking at things we yearn – that expensive car we may never own, Justin Bieber or simply that girl or boy who sits next to us in college.

And let’s not even go into how some people literally have gigabytes of porn downloaded on their laptops. We’re not saying everyone does that, but some do.

Forgive me, for I have sinned:

“I could stare at pictures of Justin Bieber all day,” Sherrinder Kaur, 17.

“The Internet has everything I want! Sometimes I just spend hours looking at photos of things that I like. Now, I just need to find the money to pay for them all,” Pritivi Raj, 20.

 

ENVY

It is not easy to like everyone, especially when they have something we can’t have. Celebrities are often the target of this untoward feeling because they aren’t shy about flaunting their good fortunes in our faces.

How many times have we felt envious over their good looks, banging bodies, excessive wealth, fairytale romance and designer clothes?

The Internet is definitely very mean when it comes to reminding us of the things we lack in our lives thus bringing to life the green-eyed monster in us.

Sometimes, our own friends trigger this feeling in us when they show off the things they have.

Forgive me, for I have sinned:

“I’m annoyed when people post lovey dove stuff to each other, but deep down, I’m actually jealous,” Ainsley Yap, 17.

“I love reading Perez Hilton because he is mean to celebrities. Sometimes, I think it’s unfair that celebrities get everything they want so it’s nice to read the embarrassing stuff about them,” Nalini Nesan, 21.

 

GLUTTONY

With everyone now taking a few minutes before eating to take pictures of their food and posting it online, there is no shortage of food pictures on the internet.

This is simply too tempting for food lovers who don’t mind driving to another state just to taste the food they read about online.

Not only do we spend time and money on food, we are also on the constant quest of finding the best meal in town.

There’s also the fact that many Internet users eat while surfing the net and often lose track of the amount of food they put into their mouths.

By the time we switched off our computers, we would have a mountain of crumbs all over the keyboard.

Forgive me, for I have sinned:

“I feel like eating every time I see images of food on Tumblr, and I keep pictures of food on my phone,” Zarrah Marie Morden, 19.

“I eat most of my meals in front of the computer and have snacks around me all the time. I think the Internet is to be blamed for all the excessive weight I put on in the recent years,” Arif Razuki, 18.