As a society, the internet is an addiction that most of the people in developed nations either have or will have once they get regular access. By this, I mean that without it, we may actually go crazy and lose our mind. We have gotten away from accomplishing most of our daily routines through physical travel, phone calls, and so on, that it may very well be the root of our demise if we should have to ever give the internet up in the future, for whatever reason. The internet has many positives that I talked about in my first post, and it continually makes improvements for us to take advantage of. But what are some of the negatives of the internet other than its general addictiveness on people? First of all, people develop a second image exclusively for the internet because of its freedom allowed to its users mixed with the ability to be anonymous in the virtual world. We are simply more likely to say or do something we normally would not to someone’s face in the real world when we are behind a computer screen. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it certainly can be. This especially applies when dealing with politics, race, religion, and gender. Because a person can literally do everything online; go to school, work, pay bills, invest, etc, the healthy benefits that comes from social interactions are becoming a thing of the past. People also tend to become lazy when they sit behind a computer screen long enough while still getting everything accomplished. Can I honestly sit here and say that accomplishing daily routines is not quicker using the internet than the old fashioned methods, no! It’s not even close. But what I can say is that after saving 30 minutes of time to pay a bill, I, myself, very rarely simply log off and get out of the house. I typically will check the news, my email, parenting tips, my bank account, school stuff…and 2 hours later, I am still surfing. Another interesting aspect of the internet is how many people commit crimes on it that normally may not in real life. Stealing music or videos on line is fairly common from sites like bit torrent or limewire. As Boudreau writes, "nearly 10 million users worldwide simultaneously clicked into peer-to-peer technology last month - 12 percent more than in May2005." Part of the problem here is that there is not really an internet police to watch everything that goes on. Some laws help to govern and regulate, but the information is so vast and scattered, it is impossible to truly regulate it. This then leads to other issues of crime that can be committed easier online such as fraud, terrorist funding, and child pornography. Maybe with more lobbying and regulation, some of these issues can be resolved. These are just some of the important negatives to be aware of as the world becomes more virtual, more technological, and more internet oriented.
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Sources:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/45919/negative_effects_of_internet_usage.html?cat=9
Boudreau, John. "Unlawful file sharing fight rages." ContraCostaTimes.com. 2006. 2 Jul 2006.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/14928106.htm
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Child Pornography is a huge issue to me. It is the one issue, even above national security, that I would say our amendment rights should be violated to make sure predators are caught. As far as the lazy issue is concerned, I beleive that if someone wants to be lazy and never exercise, they are going to regardless of rather they have a computer or not. They will sit and watch TV or play video games. Where this issue must be truly addressed is with our kids. If we mold them correctly to have a health balance, then they will continue that trend into their adulthood and to their children, and so on.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the child pornography point. It drives me crazy when I see poor innocent children taken advantage of. I partly agree with the lazy issue. Though a lazy person may be lazy regardles, a typically non lazy person may become lazy with a computer because of the temptation of sitting in front of it instead of getting out and getting exercise.
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