Essay about Are We Better Off With The Internet?

Submitted By craigdonald
Words: 1442
Pages: 6
Open Document
Humanity has come a long way over the course of our short period of existence. We’ve created some truly incredible inventions such as languages, the wheel, electricity, and penicillin, those are just a few of our greatest. Now take a second to imagine our world without some of those examples. It’s a dark world of disease, confusion, and a great number of squares. Not a whole lot has been lost or sacrificed with the creation of the previously mentioned inventions. Now, can we say the same about the Internet? Over the course of this essay, my goal is to exclude my own opinions as much as I can while provoking thoughts that might form new questions and opinions of your own. The Internet has had a colossal impact on our world no doubt. The big question is what have we lost and gained along the way, and are we better off? We could start this discussion in any number of ways, so why not start at the beginning? What is the Internet and what was its original purpose? I could throw out a bunch of tech jargon, but in all honesty I wouldn’t know a good majority of the things I would be saying and you most likely wouldn’t understand it. So let’s save each other the trouble. Simply put, the purpose of the Internet was to communicate a piece of data, or information, from one digital business source to another. What the Internet is, is just a global connection of all those devices which pass data back and forth. Now the whole
Armattoe 2 concept of the Internet was purely for business purposes, obviously that changed. When the discussion for commercializing the Internet began, people had high hopes of how this would connect us all. We are connecting, there’s no questioning that. What I question, though, is if we’re connecting to the best of our abilities in the ways we wanted? There is a surplus of ways in which we are now able to connect and communicate with one another. Websites such as Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Myspace have opened the floodgates for messaging and sharing instantly. Reconnecting with old classmates and distant family has become so simple and accessible that even children as young as five have the capabilities of performing such tasks. The ways in which we even hold intimate relationships has changed. Couples meeting online or through dating applications and games isn’t such an uncommon story to hear now a days. Long distance relationships don’t have to feel so long distance anymore. My mom and dad tell me of their yearlong experience with their whole long distance relationship from time to time. Quite frankly I don’t see how they were able to maintain such a relationship for that long back in the 1980’s. My girlfriend and I find ourselves in the same situation as my parents, but with all the mediums in which we can communicate with each other, our relationship seems much simpler to maintain. I’m amazed by the relationships we form online, because they can be truly remarkable whether they’re intimate or friendly. I also feel I’ve seen some degradation in social skills and abilities because of the Internet. Frequently I visit sports forums and
Armattoe 3 websites to read articles about the rise and fall of teams and players. At the end of such articles you can find a comments section. These comment sections can be found just about anywhere, but the concern I wish to bring up is the way in which we debate and state our opinions in these locations. I do realize our interactions online are not at all the same as the ones we display person to person, but in a way that concerns me. Why shouldn’t we be able to hold healthy debates where we state our opinions and back them up facts? What i’m seeing are back and forth comments/rants that go completely off topic and get offensive very quickly. I can only hope that this is an isolated group of individuals and that those who are able to debate and communicate in a healthy way simply choose to stay out of the discussion and spend their time using the Internet more wisely.
Show More

Related Documents: Essay about Are We Better Off With The Internet?

Net Neutrality: Video Analysis

the Net Neutrality, we use the internet every day and we should be able to have freedom to do what we want on there like we are paying for it why can’t we have our privacy. We use cell phones, video games, and a lot of more electronics that use internet. But once you have used all your data it starts to go slow and have to pay more money if you want it to go faster or you have to wait until your cut off day so that your cycle can start again. On the YouTube video the man says we should discrimination…

Words 362 - Pages 2

Nicholas Carr

Nicholas Carr specifically explains how our use of the internet has caused us to become scatterbrained and unfocused in reading, and, indeed, people have become increasingly dependent on the internet and other search engines. In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, he emphasizes how one’s excessive use of the internet is making individuals minds not as intellectual as they were before we began to thrive on technology. Carr shares how it has become a struggle for him to be…

Words 673 - Pages 3

Essay on Ben Franklin

Scientist for many reasons. First of all a Civic Scientist is a scientist that is basically just a member of a town. Ben Franklin ran away from his home and off to Philadelphia at age 17. He made a life for himself instead of most of the royalty who is just born into fortune and fame. Also, he invented many different things that have changed the way that we live today. For example, he discovered electricity, which is probably one of the most important discoveries in the whole world. He also invented the…

Words 434 - Pages 2

Military Uses Technology Essay

Dependency? Modern technology has opened pathways by changing the way we live, work, learn, communicate and providing numerous advantages. Today, people access information and news updates through the internet; smart phones and tablets let us have many things on one device, such as music, applications, videos, games, and so on. Now, we can also get to see anybody face to face, as if they’re in front of us, using webcams. We don’t see a lot of people around without mobile phones or decline the use…

Words 701 - Pages 3

High School and Dear Mrs. Terranova Essay example

Dear Mrs. Terranova, Recently we have had an outbreak on plagiarism here at Monte Vista and I would like to say as much as we students want to be overachieving and brilliant, it’s a difficult task to do without the internet. We have so much stress on us by our parents, constantly pushing us to do better than average and balancing sports and a social life. I know most people cant balance sports and academics and if you can, you’re put on this pedestal and everyone wants to be you. I think what drives…

Words 481 - Pages 2

Social Media Essay

and cons How much social media is to much for an adolescent? If we surveyed a hundred people, we will probably get a hundred different answers. The truth of the matter is, we will never know the exact number, but we can determine the pros and cons of the internet. According to Brent Staples, “the internet was billed as a revolutionary way to enrich our social lives and expand our civic connection”.(Brent Staples, page 445) The internet is diminishing a lot of the social skills of our younger generation…

Words 787 - Pages 4

Interpersonal Communication Research Paper

Interpersonal Communication: Article response: US Court of Appeals: The Internet is a Plantation, With Comcast, Verizon, AT&T Its Masters Wikipedia defines Network Neutrality (also net neutrality or Internet neutrality) as the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, and modes of communication. With the…

Words 360 - Pages 2

Why Im Optimistic About our Nations Future Essay

my generation can vote for the leaders of our country. We have the chance to put the best people possible in charge. Now even though right now my generation might seem too immature to be part of that decision. I assure you we will rise to the challenge! My generation has been through so many falls of our nation, like wars, economic failures, terrorists attacks such as 9/11, gun violence, school shootings and government shut downs. We have also seen some changes that were for the better too. First off we saw our nation vote in a president who is an african american…

Words 629 - Pages 3

Explain What Roles Should The Government Have In Monitoring The Internet

"What role should the government have in monitoring the internet? Today’s society is affected and productive by social media. I do not think the government should be in control of the internet. Reason being because I believe we should go by our first amendment, freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Social media is an option. The government nor schools should not have the right to have a tab of students social media. Social media is an option. Studies have shown that the majority of our…

Words 515 - Pages 3

Should Government Be Allowed To Regulate Information On The Internet

The Internet is a place for people to share their feelings, for people to relax and watch funny videos, or even look things up for school. Now imagine an Internet where the Government has control over what is on there and they don’t want you to relax or to share your feelings. The government should not be allowed to regulate information because it could take peoples freedom of speech away if they speak out, or they could degrade the Internet websites, and also they take away people chances to make…

Words 788 - Pages 4