*shrug* I'm American. Never had a problem with my international friends/students because of it.

I tend to think you see what you look for.

This is my 2 cents ... not that it's actually worth 2 cents ...

There are some people in the world who enjoy talking with people from other countries. There are also those who use such a medium for abuse or otherwise releasing their anger. I don't do a lot of chatting with people online anymore, but when I have, it has been mostly positive. I have talked with people from Brazil, Australia, Great Britain, France and a few other countries for months at a time (not all at once) and had a very pleasant time doing it (I consider myself an amateur anthropologist ... which is the study of culture and people).

On the other hand, I have played pool on yahoo for quite a while. People often ask where a person is from (good question). Every now and then, a person would ask and I'd tell them I live in the US (a lot of people on there also live in the US and they ask for more specific locations but many live outside the US so they don't really care what specific state I live in) only to get called a bunch of nasty names. I hadn't said anything to them other than "hello" and "united states" when these names get called ... and it's in an area designed to play a game... as opposed to a chat room.

Maybe people from the US are hated around the world for whatever reason, but this doesn't mean that everyone shares the attitude(s) that a country is hated for ... even if they live in said country. I chalk it up to people just being A-holes no matter what country they happen to call home. For those that want the internet to help, it's a great thing. For those who aren't interested in learning about anyone else, don't want to change and/or only seek to abuse people without finding out their individual situations first, it hurts. I personally think there are more of the former than the latter. I'll cling to this as long as I continue meeting great people online.

<<Do you all think that the Internet has helped or harmed relations between countries? >>

Not sure about "Countries" but my personal experience is I have learned a lot about other countries by interacting with the people from them on the Internet - more importantly I have made some friends - many of which occupy a special place in my heart - through the Internet.

I never understood the idea of pen pals until I got to tribe. The idea you could form meaningful relationships with people you have never met.. but the first time I sat somewhere and thought about how my tribe friends were doing- knowing of their problems, hopes, aspirations - hell even the name of their dogs and neighbours and evil boss LOL - I understood the attraction of Pen Pals..

So I am not sure if the Internet has brought "my Country" closer to "other Countries"- but certainly on a micro level rather than macro - it has brought me closer to citizens of other lands.. YAY the Internet !

My opinion is that the internet helps people separated by long distances relate and understand one another better. I have found we are more alike than I used to think when I had very little connection with people in other countries.

I think most of the other posts are along the lines of what I think.

In your post, you said even your friend has mentioned that "the world has got a little bit smaller." To me, that's really the point. People are interacting with other people, from all over the place, with different political, religious, philosophical backgrounds.

Sure, there will always be a few schmucks around to spoil the party. And sometimes a harmless joke is misinterpreted and serves as a barrier to open communication. But both of these issues come up everywhere, in every setting. When I lived in Prague, I met a particularly annoying British guy, who looked just like Mr. Bean, I swear! Anyway, he realized I was from the States and tried to ruin the entire evening by hounding me about guns and Cuba, as if I am personally responsible for US policies! Ugh. I came close to making a snippy comment that it was around July 4th, when my country was celebrating a bit of British butt-kicking. But, he beat me to it and made our entire table see what an ass he really was. He shouted (in a Czech pub, mind you), "What's so bad about communism anyway?" Well, you might imagine the reaction of our Czech friends to it.

I don't think I've ever had anyone get truly nasty with me because of my citizenship, other than the annoying questions about why the US does certain things. Then again, I think I approach things in my own way and impress upon others my desire to learn about their ways. Perhaps if someone already expects a certain attitude from Americans, the slightest remarks could be construed as hostile or arrogant or whatever.

I have friends all over the world and the only people I get hassled for being an American for is other Americans.