I'm going to write a reply way too detailed for a thread this old, but stick with me. I'm a college student at a large university right now who spends way too much time online with friends who spend way too much time online. College has been really hard. Not just academically, but socially and emotionally. I have to handle a lot more than I'm used to. It's hitting everyone I know hard. I don't have enough money, I don't have enough food, I don't have enough friends, I don't have enough time, I'm not smart enough, I'm not strong enough, I don't know what I'm doing, I don't have very good ways to cope, and I've never had to do this before. I can't say if I necessarily have it worse than other college students, but I will say my family is facing serious legal, financial, emotional, mental, and medical issues. My favorite thing about the Internet is the access I have to what I need. My biological mother and adoptive mother botg pushed aside their mental issues, and my biological mother always told me to pretend I didn't have any, while my adoptive mother encouraged me to adapt to society in ways I didn't always feel comfortable with. With the internet, I can find treatment options that make me feel safe. The end result is the same, I just had better options avaliable. Online chat rooms, support rooms, more information.

I want to touch on another point I see on reddit a lot about college "safe spaces". I see those little signs all over my campus. Does that stop people from making homophobic/sexist/racist comments? Absolutely not! LSU had two frats who held up signs last year saying "no means yes, yes means anal". Girls cars are marked with white dots all over campus to mark them "easy rape targets". There are no safe spaces. People suck, I don't know why reddit gets so offended that a few faculty members want to give you a place where you can talk and they won't act super weird when you disclose you've been getting harassed for your sexuality.

I kind of got off topic. There's a lot of resources online for people who do feel descrimination, too. It's not to hate those who do it. It's to realize we aren't alone in this, that we are whole people who are more than "Tumblr SJWs" or "toxic black culture". The internet is both an escape and a guide for people who want it. People look for what they want, and they'd find it without the internet. My personal experience online has been much more aggressive than any real-life encounter. People don't send death or rape threats as much in real life as they do behind usernames.