Be Careful What You Click On! The Dark Side of the Internet.

So today, I'm reading a post on a forum I frequent, and it referenced an article about someone from a reality show getting arrested and posted a link to the article.    So being the nosy person I am, I clicked on the link.   My eyes nearly popped out of my eye sockets!   There on the left hand side was the article written as any other news article would be written, detailing the person's arrest and the incidents that led up to it.   All very normal and informative.   But all down the right side were photos of nude people in all sorts of graphic sexual contact.   Close ups.....multiple people together....things too obscene for me to even describe here on a family friendly site.

So how is it that a seemingly innocent link to a news article can take you to such stuff?    I have no idea.   The internet is a wonderful thing that can help us research illnesses, find long lost friends, find the best deal on items we're shopping for, etc.   But it is also a gateway to things I personally don't want to see.  It was obvious that other people had been shocked as I was by comments asking if there wasn't a different link to the information.

I have two older children so have long ago quit filtering.    Yet somehow, I can't imagine that with a simple click my kids could be viewing such things.    Obviously you don't even have to go looking for it.   It just can smack you in the face when you're least expecting it.   It's one thing if you use a search term to find such adult content or even if you click on a link that you know will take you to it.    But to click on a news article and find it?   Somehow that doesn't seem right to me. 

I just don't even know what to say.   While I love my internet and all the things it can lead me to, I don't like this dark side of the internet.   It makes me very sad and disheartened.