I know the title of this blog post seems quite harsh, but I am going to look at the Internet from the other side of the fence. Most of the following are quotes or paraphrases from "Why I hate the Internet," written by an anonymous writer on geocities.com. To clarify, I do not agree with everything he writes; however, he does bring up several interesting points which I would like to discuss. First, he complains that "There's too much information." This is so true. People surfing the web are constantly inundated with pop-up ads, advertisements, links to other sites, search engines spewing out information, junk e-mails- the list goes on and on. Its simply an information overload. Our brains are only meant to process so much information at one time. When we try to process all of the information the Internet gives us, we spend a ridiculous amount of time in front of a monitor. The author also touches on the effect this has on schoolwork. Although the Internet makes research and citations a million times easier, it has a negative reciprocal effect on our study habits. Instead of reading an entire selection from a book to get some background on the topic,we simply copy and paste. It makes us lazy, and we completely forget how to research a tangible document. To be fair, I know there are upsides to having a mass of information. Instead of talking to an Indian telemarketer for the better part of an hour, i can compare vacation spots online. Then I can get directions there, rent a car, book a hotel, get tickets to shows and reserve a table at a fancy restaurant all online.
The second thing the author discusses (and the most annoying thing to me) is Internet junkies. People who have nothing better to do than to sit in front of a computer screen and live online. They meet friends online, they shop online, they read online, they play games online, some even date online. It is comical at times to see them- pale skin that hasn't seen the light of day in a long time, messed up hair, eyes bloodshot from playing to level 24 on World of Warcraft- you know the type. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is no longer limited to those people. It has spread to mainstream culture. Most people have myspace, facebook, youtube, and yahoo accounts. Not to mention they are frequent visitors to Google, eBay, news and gossip websites, and an online dating site. I critique this subject very lightly, for I am guilty in some areas. However, I have learned to manage my time online- a practice very few have achieved. All in all, I cannot say "I Hate The Internet." I can say that of all the means of communication and technology we have available, the Internet lends the largest helping hand to those who wish to misuse it.
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I think you have a very weak argument. First the article which claims to hate the internet is posted on the internet. The irony in this just made me laugh. The author is using the internet to spread his work. How hypocritical. Second, how can anyone complain about there being too much information? Do you complain about the excess of books when you enter the library? I'm sorry, but that was just a stupid comment. You do have a point in the fact that advertisements are getting out of hand, but advances in web browsers and pop-up blockers have basically eliminated all pop-ups that were there before. "Our brains are only meant to process so much information at one time." This quote is not relevant either. While it is possible to display unreadable amounts of information on your computer display, it is just as easy to organize the information and divide it into readable segments. And although some people may spend an enourmous amount of time in front of the computer screen, how is that any different than sitting in a classroom and listening for a professor lecture for hours? How can you copy and paste from online articles without plagarising (Sp?). In order to post from a selection online any intelligent person would actually read the article and post an intelligent response as opposed to simply copying and pasting. Does it really make us lazy? Or is it just really convenient. I will not debate the fact that there are many forty year old men who live in their parents' basement and play World of Warcraft for 12 hours a day, but if those people had not found the internet or if it had not been invented they would not have been successful anyway. They might as well have been playing nintendo that whole time. In reality, the internet is something that has consumed some people's lives, but other things have done that just the same.
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