Debate - the Internet Brings More Harm Than Good

The Internet is today’s encyclopedia. Information about any topic may be discovered with a quick type of a few keywords in a search bar and a click of the search button. The Internet often receives the world’s breaking news at the same time, or even before, as the major news networks. It has become the source that informs people about the current news; someone could find a billion articles about the breaking news within a few seconds. It also provides the user with convenience. For example, one may go directly to their desired article at any time instead of waiting for the scheduled news time and having to listen to all of the reports before hearing the one they wanted. The Internet is not only used to discover the recent news, it can also be used for research regarding history. The Internet may prove as a very valuable asset while writing a research paper on a specified topic on which you do not possess much knowledge. For example, the Internet would be advantageous to a student writing a research paper about black history and the civil right movement if the pupil had never heard of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Internet is not only used for productive reasons; it may also be used for recreational purposes. For example, one may go to YouTube and watch silly videos just for fun. Someone having such easy access to information is not always a good thing. In today’s time, people are careless about what they post on the Internet. Some people release their personal information like their full name, address, contact number, birthday, and social security number. Some may find disclosing this information harmless; however, the owner of this information may suffer dire consequences it enters the wrong hands. The exposure of this information puts the person at risk for identity theft. For example, someone’s credit may be ruined of the wrong person gets their person information. The Internet

This shift to more superficial reading and thinking has had an impact on critical thinking on the Internet, at least when reading articles found on the Internet. In this age of “fake news” running rampant over the Internet, it is more important than ever to employ critical thinking skills on the Internet; however, it is clear that many people do not. This becomes a problem when such blatant misinformation is influencing peoples’ decisions, such as in the 2016 presidential election. Some are fearful that society will operate “on the basis of bad or biased information” and that we will not be able to trust voters to think critically about the claims candidates are making (Cerf).

In recent years, advances in technology have exploded. Almost every child has a tablet, middle schools are giving students laptops, and nearly every adult on the planet can be seen walking around with a smartphone. The internet is a huge part of today’s society. Information from all over the globe is just a few clicks away, but could that be a bad thing? Nicholas Carr thinks that the internet is making society stupid in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Steven Johnson says that the internet is a great thing in his essay “Everything Bad is Good for Us,” and Christine Rosen seems to think that everything digital is evil in her work “People on the Screen.” When used correctly, the internet has an overwhelmingly positive effect on the growth of the human brain. Technology provides people with more opportunities to read, a way for children to be stimulated, and simpler communication.

Many people view the internet as an ultimate resource for anything they desire. The people who say that the internet is a brilliant invention for the best have reasons backing up their idea. For example, Sherry Turkle writes about such ideas explaining how the internet is an excellent tool for the better in her essay, “Can You Hear Me Now?” Turkle believes strongly that the invention of the internet is an innovation for the better and emphasizes to her readers how important it is in everyone’s lives nowadays. On the other hand, some believe exactly the opposite of Turkle’s invalid inquisition that the internet is a tool that is most definitely not for the greater good. The internet is a

By sheer virtue of its size, ridding the internet of this toxicity is destined to be a long and fraught process. However, as is true of all the political scandals discussed in this essay, solutions based upon the achievement of greater accountability and responsibility must prevail. Beginning at the top, those in positions of influence must be willing to change the way political discourse is conducted, both on and offline. It seems clear that the obfuscating techniques of “euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness” condemned by George Orwell have engendered the rise of “post truth” politics, whereby “objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief” (Orwell, 1968 [1946]:

The internet is a powerful tool for activists, but can also be utilized by the other side by promoting propaganda and mobilizing their own supporters. Networking sites have revolutionized the way people activists approach revolutions. Moreover, the internet has connected people from across the world and has caused people in the states (like myself) to become invested in a civil war occurring in a part of the world I never knew existed. The internet has empowered and enabled people by connecting like-minded people, providing access to information, broadcasting events, and creating real connections between people. Alone, the internet is not enough to bring down an oppressive, authoritarian state; but when coupled with the power and will of the people, it can create real

The media controls many thoughts and facts given to the public that may or may not be true. With the Internet at fingertips across the world, news spreads faster with little evidence provided. Over the last century, the world’s speed increased with news inventions such as cars, electronics, and the Internet. Society’s mindset transformed from hard working to free handouts; therefore, when news sources make a statement, humankind believes it without researching the topic at all. Sometimes, news reporters make legitimate statements that are misinterpreted by readers. The words of the writer are at fault for perspective or understanding of news rather than the interpretation the readers obtain.

There has been a ton of turmoil about the internet. A controversial issue on whether the internet is more helpful or hurtful to the human brain. On one hand, Nicholas Carr argues that technology may be weakening human abilities for deeper reading, an old fashion type of learning. Carr believes that relying on computers will cause humans intelligent to decline. On the other end, there’s Clive Thompson. Thompson presents computers as a digital tool that assists people in their everyday life. Providing phenomenal external memory, social connections, and endless availability of resources. Both, Carr and Thompson, believe that the internet can act as a tool that shapes the way humans think. Which brings us to the dilemma, is the internet a technological apocalypse or a promising utopia?

According to Manuel Castells, “The Impact of the Internet on Society” the Internet and its many uses have been misunderstood. The Internet has helped to improve social relationships but “The media aggravate the distorted perception by dwelling into scary reports on the basis of anecdotal observation and biased commentary” (page 10). With such thought being expressed, it seems we are falling for the falsely defined characteristics of the internet. We can either let the unreliable reviews take our attention away from the internet or let it contribute to the way we learn. While the false reports haven’t had much negative effects on usage, Nicholas Carr offers a different perspective than that of Manuel Castells. In “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr believes the Internet has taken the foundation out of learning, socializing and reading. Coupled with Manuel Castells, Nicholas Carr agrees that the Internet has been of good use in some cases (Wikipedia for the many hours of research conducted for its database that we access) but he also believes the Internet is slowly making him and us stupid. Carr says “My mind now expects to take in information the way the net distributes it” (page 3). He might have spent too much time on the Internet or he has simply lost the touches of doing things the old fashioned way. With this in mind, without the Internet at the use of our fingertips we will be researching and socializing like that of the old days (something that will take ages).

Imagine a world that is so consumed with the digital world that the people in it are no longer able to form their own opinions, or even distinguish the truth from fact. Unfortunately, this can just be another way to describe the earth. It is no surprise that as time progressed, the easy access to technology grew to influence larger aspects of life. With this privilege came both negative and positive effects, however, there were more unfavorable changes in society. Ever since forms of communication existed, it has become a “social norm” to naturally accept the views of the media, no matter how drastic they may seem. This allows organizations to manipulate and provide false information to an extremely large number of people. Many people

With the introduction of the Internet, there has been a global shift in our human culture. A profound, intense change in which every one of us has been impacted by, and one that has never been so pervasive or immediate as the one we have seen grow with each passing day. Now, the Internet was conceived with the purest of notions, where the intentions were good and the purpose was true: a glorified, all-encompassing systematic collection of the world’s expressions, where ideas, thoughts, reforms, and opinions can circle the globe, for conversations to be sparked and a global culture to be established. However, through the passage of time, certain facets of the Internet have become polluted, perverse even, where the malicious and ill willed could

In conclusion, when the internet was created it was at seen as a way to finally stop gatekeepers who withheld vital information, such as the Church or the Associated Press. However, overtime “filter bubbles” have developed on online media platforms. These filter bubbles have become the new gatekeepers of information because they dictate the content a user receives based on what the internet believes they want. These filter bubbles exist in many different forms from suggested videos on YouTube, to recommended trends on Twitter, to endorsed products on Amazon. These sites are popular, and used frequently, which makes it clear that a large portion of the content our society consumes is heavily tailored. This can negatively affect society because

The ‘Internet’ is one of the most used search tool on the earth, used by majority of the world’s population for research, communication, conveniences, entertainment and much more. Over the years, cases in relation to negative transformation of human behaviors, where people are becoming emotionally depress, horrified, vulnerable, addicted through the internet has become a serious problem for many people around the world, including us.

The Internet - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The internet is a computer based global information system. It is composed of many interconnected computer networks. Each network may link thousands of computers enabling them to share information. The internet has brought a transformation in many aspects of life.

The effects of the internet on me and this society have been rapidly changing. Did you know that approximately 3.2 billion people use the internet, about 200 billion emails and 3 million google searches would have to wait if the internet was turned off for one day. Let me tell you about something that happened when i was little, it might be off topic a little but when i was little i was born backwards, meaning i came out legs first. My hips were out of place and until i was about 2. My dad is always on the internet and loved taking pictures of his “Little princess”, the pictures can still be found on facebook along with a lot of other things from my family memories. That was when i started wanting to get on the internet, i asked for a facebook and they said no, being a rebel i made one anyways just to play the games on it. The internet can have positive and negative things about it for younger and older people, for example the internet engines are one of the best information givers out there, they bring almost everything and anything to a lot of internet users that lange from all over the world. The internet can provide ways to communicate with family and friends from a long distance, and even meet new people. Bad things about it is people sharing and storing illegal information on the internet, much like the dark web. The addiction to the internet and the online network can be disturbing a person's way of living and professional activity.