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Screen time isn't all bad – think of Ibelin!
🇸🇪 Sweden /Culture & Society

Screen time isn't all bad – think of Ibelin!

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Opinion Sources not specified Context piece
  • The internet, once envisioned as a tool for connection and knowledge, has instead led to polarization and a decline in understanding, according to an opinion piece.
  • Tech giants control platforms that are rife with aggression, conspiracy theories, and extremism, amplified by AI and a nihilistic online culture.
  • The story of Mats Steen, who found friendship and community in the online game "World of Warcraft" under the alias "Ibelin," is presented as a counterpoint to the internet's negative aspects.

The internet, once heralded as a force for global unity, knowledge, and tolerance, has instead fostered division and diminished understanding, argues an opinion piece in Dagens Nyheter. The author reflects on a personal misjudgment of the internet's potential, noting that instead of a global public square, a few wealthy tech moguls now control platforms saturated with aggression, conspiracy theories, extremism, and artificial intelligence.

This online environment is characterized by a nihilistic "boys' room" humor that has even permeated world politics. Amidst this "burning trash heap," the author points to the story of Mats Steen, known online as "Ibelin," as a reminder of the internet's potential for positive connection.

The greatest sorrow for the family, says his father in the documentary 'Ibelin's Extraordinary Life' (Netflix), was the knowledge that Mats would never experience friendship and love from anyone other than them.

— Mats Steen's fatherReflecting on the family's initial perception of Mats Steen's isolation before discovering his online friendships.

Steen, who died at 25 from a degenerative disease, was initially thought by his family to have missed out on friendship and love. However, after his death, his family discovered he had formed deep bonds within the online game "World of Warcraft." Members of his guild noticed his unusual behavior, such as running through the game's landscape and disappearing without notice, and his avoidance of real-world meetings. Despite these quirks, Steen was a supportive friend to many in the game who were also seeking refuge from their own difficult lives.

He offered a listening ear to a young woman struggling with her parents, a depressed man with no one to talk to, and a mother trying to connect with her autistic son. Eventually, Steen confided his own condition to some of these online friends. The piece poses the question of whether people are isolated because they spend too much time online, or if they spend too much time online because they are already unhappy and isolated, suggesting it is often a combination of both.

Are people unhappy and isolated because they spend so much time online, or do they spend so much time online because they are unhappy and isolated?

— Lisa MagnussonPosing a question about the relationship between online activity and real-world isolation.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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