I've been noticing a disconnect between consequences and actions. We live in a world where the internet is so closely integrated with society that we forget that we are in fact people, that avatar or tweet, is still you, just the person on the other side just thinks of you in a way that the ones around you do not. What are the ethical implications of relationships built around the internet, because it's such a beautiful thing. It connects us and could create art and life and creativity. But it isn't, it's just this hellscape ran by suits who have no love for art, and philosophy, of literature.
As a world, we are leaving religion behind(For me, god has always been a science we cannot explain yet, I have a strong belief in atheism) but we forget the morality that these systems taught us, however many faults they have, they are just glorified, bloated moral frameworks to keep people in check, without that, how do we form individual moral frameworks but still function in a society that lives of dividing us, we will always find a way to put ourselves above the next man.
I recently something in a comment section of an independent song. Someone had commented that the band(Fleshwater, awesome alt band) were very unique and in control of their aesthetics. A user replied to them saying that they were just regurgitating 90s style, and that the internet had killed culture, replacing it with a bottomless pit of content. It's cynical, but I can see where they are coming from, I mean, what's art when it's seen as the next quick buck.
I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, i'm not trying to say anything new, these are just some "shower thoughts"
i think, to me, that no matter who runs the internet there will always be artists, there will always be creatives of all kinds, and they will always make art for the sake of it, rather then for money.
sadly yeah, big wigs have taken over the internet, small sites are even smaller, accessability to information is at an all time low, but creating things is part of human nature, and there will always be people creating things!
You hit two big problems right on the head. As a society we are abandoning the idea that actions have consequences and stepping away from our shared narrative/moral structure. A large part of that structure you correctly point out stems from judeo-christian history and morality. There have been many bumps and failings along the way, but that structure has built a civilization that is nearly unheard of in it's prosperity and stability. Best example of this in the US obesity is more of a problem than hunger, a quick study of history shows that is very odd.
To me, it seems a couple of generations growing up in this relatively stable environment have made the assumption that this is "normal." As a result they think they can dispose of the pieces of the old system they don't like, without realizing they are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There is much refinement and progress to be made, but not understanding the past and what got us here dooms us to regression.
I've often seen the phenomenon of game users not playing a game the way game developers originally intended. I don't think this phenomenon is at all rare and exceptional, but rather the norm. Even if the so-called hellhole that is the internet is run by suits who have no interest in art, philosophy, and literature, I don't think players need to be bent to their will. Let's find our own fun in it, in our own way. :)